Children are free spirits, sensitive to many external influences, particularly religious. Religions have begun to strengthen children's participation; that's why they started putting more emphasis on children's ministries. If religion is a major part of a child's life, it will shape who they become and how they are raised. Religion directly affects how a child grows up and how they view people and situations in their life after childhood. In order to understand how religion affects a child, it is important to view different situations through various religious perspectives and approaches. As Don Browning suggests, in Children and Childhood in American Religions, "careful investigation of religions through comparative analysis can significantly advance contemporary attitudes toward children and provide a richer basis for concerted public action in their favor” (12-13). In Salvation, a short story by Langston Hughes, he describes how religion affected his entire life. Hughes describes his aunts' church during their revival, and how the entire congregation "was rocked with prayer and song," but he was "still waiting to see Jesus" (Hughes). Hughes never saw Jesus, but he still got up and walked to the altar. He felt the pressure of an entire congregation and as a child; he felt he had no choice but to pretend. The congregation inadvertently pressured Hughes to join the church. Peter Pufall, in his book Rethinking Childhood, said: “Throughout history, religions have looked to children for the survival of both the community of faith and the faith itself” (57 ). In Hughes' case, the overwhelming power of the Church and the fear of going to the altar affected the rest of his life,...... middle of paper ...... proper guidance of their children, then they can become balanced individuals in religion, if they wish, and in society. Works Cited Browning, Don S., Bonnie J Miller-McLemore and Inc NetLibrary. Children and childhood in American religions. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2009. Hughes, Langston. "Hi." Free Survey 1999: 47. ProQuest Research Library. Internet. April 15, 2011. Klein, M. Diane., Deborah Chen and Inc NetLibrary. Working with children from diverse cultural backgrounds. Albany, New York: Delmar Thomson Learning, 2001. Pufall, Peter B., Richard P Unsworth and Inc NetLibrary. Rethinking childhood. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2004. Stearns, Peter N. and Inc NetLibrary. Childhood in world history. New York ; London: Routledge, 2006.