This study investigated quantitative differences in commitment between three age groups of children toward eight societal components: self, home, neighborhood, school, religion, voluntary membership organization, state, and country. Participating in the study were 469 school-age students in 18 randomly selected classrooms in six randomly selected school districts in southeast Texas. The sample had 169 fifth-grade students, 159 eighth-grade students, and 141 eleventh-grade students. Each student filled out a values questionnaire. Findings include the following. For values toward self, religious organization, voluntary membership organization, state, and country, there were significant differences in expressed values toward societal components between age groups. In every instance of a significant difference, the eighth-grade students scored lowest. This was not surprising since the early adolescent years are known to be a time of emotional turmoil, insecurity, and adjustment. From a quantitative point of view, the values toward these components were as high at the fifth-grade level as they could be expected to be during most of the remainder of the public school career. Values were not arranged in a linearly upward sequence, with older students expressing higher values than the younger. Much of the affective makeup of the individual appears to have been learned by the time he is in the fifth grade. It appears, then, that schools should expend considerable effort in nurturing values toward these components in the formative years of their students. (Author/RM)