Jewish teens all over St. Louis spent the last few precious hours of 2014 creating New Year’s resolutions for the exciting year ahead. As Jews, they had already reflected and repented during the High Holidays. But as Americans, St. Louis area teens watched the ball drop from New York’s Times Square and pondered the incredible possibilities for change and improvement in the coming year.

Do the secular New Year’s resolutions reflect the kinds of spiritual changes we are encouraged to contemplate at the High Holidays? Do our neighborhood Jewish teenagers seek personal growth and emotional fulfillment or do their resolutions revolve too much around material objects?

More than 100 randomly selected Jewish teens in St. Louis responded to a survey probing their thoughts on New Year’s resolutions. Although more than 50 percent said they created New Year’s resolutions, few followed through. These teens opined that they often repeated the same resolutions year after year in the hope that this year would be different. Many went even further, observing that they typically did not even remember their resolutions from the previous year.

Forty-two percent of those surveyed cited exercising as their top priority for 2015. Several teens within this group coupled this goal with eating healthier and getting more sleep. Two of the respondents mentioned learning to play a new sport as a form of exercise.

Thirty-eight percent of respondents included becoming a better person somewhere on their list of Top 5 New Year’s resolutions. Some of these respondents elaborated on their plans for becoming a better person by noting that that they hoped to volunteer in some capacity this year, take part in a charity walk or run, or simply engage in “random acts of kindness.”

The notion of doing better in school came in at a close third place with 35 percent of those responding that one of their resolutions related to improvements at school. These resolutions took the form of earning better grades, increasing ACT or SAT scores, learning something new, reading more books, and cultivating better organizational and time management skills. One respondent indicated he would like to serve fewer detentions for being tardy, and another stated she needed to become less picky and find something to eat for lunch at school.

Cupid was not a prominent presence this year, with only 17 percent of teens including love as a part of their New Year’s resolutions. Several respondents stated that they wanted to find a girlfriend or boyfriend in 2015. Two teens noted they wished to develop better flirtation skills, and one teen sought to develop better techniques on asking someone out on a date.

Family relationships appeared on 9 percent of the resolution lists with Jewish teenagers looking for opportunities to get along better with siblings and parents, argue less, and spend more quality time together as a family. Several respondents remarked about wanting to communicate more with family about the happenings in their daily lives and finding ways to feel more closely connected. Local Jewish teens focused introspectively on fostering better relationships with friends and family as well as self-improvement in school and giving of themselves in the greater community.

Overall Jewish teens did seem to make some type of New Years Resolution even if they did not follow through with it throughout the year.