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“[Our study found] that parents still have an enormous amount of influence on their kids’ lives, even though I’m sure that’s very hard for them to believe at times. Adolescents are not routinely coming to their parents and saying “thanks so much for steering me in the right direction. I really appreciate it. I really want you to know that you are a big influence.” They don’t say it, but it’s still a fact . . . Here’s another striking thing: We asked teenagers in interviews, what thing would you most like to change about your family, if anything? The most common answer was “I wish I was closer to my parents.” When asked, why aren’t you closer?, they said, “I don’t know how to do it.” There is genuine interest. I think parents often misread signals.”
—Christian Smith, author (with Melinda Lundquist Denton) of Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers, in conversation with Michael Cromartie in Books and Culture, January/February 2005 | 
