W niniejszym artykule zostały przedstawione wyniki badań socjologicznych zrealizowanych w latach 1988–2017, na próbach ogólnopolskich młodzieży uczęszczającej do szkół średnich. W hipotezie głównej założono, że młodzież wykazuje skłonność do negowania tradycyjnych wartości (religijnych i moralnych) obowiązujących w Kościele katolickim oraz ulega wartościom lansowanym przez nowe nurty ideowe charakterystyczne dla społeczeństw ponowoczesnych i pluralistycznych. Badania empiryczne z lat 1988–2017 wykazały ponadto przyspieszenie zmian w kondycji religijnej i moralnej młodzieży szkolnej. W 2017 roku wskaźnik przeciętny odnoszący się do wybranych przejawów religijności wynosił 47%, a spadek aprobaty tych elementów kształtował się na poziomie 15,7%. „Pełzająca” sekularyzacja w środowiskach młodzieżowych, wyraźnie przyspieszająca, wydaje się już faktem społecznym.

Catholic Marital and Family Morality in the View of School Youth

The author analyses several issues related to the broadly understood human sexuality perceived in the perspective of pro-family values and norms of Catholic provenance. In sociological research, the results of which are discussed in this article, high school students responded to selected attitudes and behaviours negatively evaluated in Catholic marital and family ethics, such as: sexual intercourse before church marriage, use of contraceptives, marital infidelity, divorce, and abortion. The changes taking place in the sphere of intimacy are clear. A significant part of young Poles is in a dissonant-stressful situation. There is no correspondence between a personally recognised and practiced value system and a value system derived from religion. Some Catholics live according to rules and norms that have no legitimacy in the Catholic religion. However, it should be emphasized that sociologists with an empirical orientation are more interested in questioning and transgressing moral norms than in their content or social recognition, and they speak too hastily about permissiveness and moral relativism.

Family as a Basic Value in the Consciousness of School Youth

In this article, we will delve into two key aspects: the family as a fundamental and prioritized value within everyday values and the aspirations of young people regarding marriage. The sociological analysis is grounded in the outcomes of public opinion surveys and research conducted in the first and second decades of the 21st century. Throughout the 20th century and the initial decade of the 21st century, family and contented family life consistently held the top spot among the life goals of Poles, standing out as one of the most cherished values. However, in the course of the accelerated transformation of Polish society, success or a thriving professional career is emerging as a distinct life value for young Poles, competing to some extent with the significance attributed to family. Notably, around 60% of respondents among school youth express a commitment to formal marriage in their future plans.

Attitudes of school youth towards homosexuality and adoption of children by homosexual couples

In our considerations, we address two issues in the social narrative: homosexuality and adoption of children by homosexual couples. The basis for these diagnoses are the results of nationwide surveys and sociological research carried out in the two decades of the 21st century. Especially in the second decade of the 21st century, the views of school youth on bioethical issues were subject to progressive liberalization (secularization of morality). In nationwide research at the turn of 2022–2023, conducted among secondary school students, it was found that homosexual relationships were rated as permissible by 50.7% of the surveyed school youth, “it depends” – 12.0%, unacceptable – 24.4%, hard to say – 12.9%; adoption of children by homosexual couples (respectively) – 41.0%, 17.6%, 29.9%, 11.5%.