Think of the children

For 50 years, kids have been bettering their parents, the next generation of youth will be the first to do WORSE.
Causes:
-Housing cost (av age up from 23 50 years ago to 30 in 2011)
-Lack of willingness from big companies to train young staff
-Lack of oppurtunities (unemployment 50 years ago 2.2% now in excess of 8%)
-Lack of parental guidence (more broken homes than ever see below)

Just how big is the problem in teen culture today?

Sometimes issues we hear discussed on the television or in the newspaper just don�ft strike us as reality. Our limited vision of the world surrounding us can restrict our ability to see real people with real hurts right around the corner from where we live our lives. Even if the truth does manage to find its way into our comfort zones long enough to get us to really think about the legitimate problems the young people of our nation and community face, the facts can be so overwhelming we lose sight of the fact that there are things we can do to help
That�fs understandable! The problems seem to know no bounds:

Eating Disorders
�¡ 11% of young people in America suffer from either anorexia nervosa or bulimia
�¡15% of teens in Michigan have engaged in bulimic or anorexic behavior
�¡90-95% of all patients with eating disorders are female adolescents
�¡Two out of three teenage girls surveyed were trying to lose weight
�¡Only 50% of those with eating disorders report being cured; about 6% of serious cases die.

Family relationships/broken homes
�¡1 out of 2 marriages end in divorce.
�¡Almost 1 out of 3 children live in a single parent home.
�¡Parents spend 40% less time with their children today then they did a generation ago.
�¡1 out of 5 teens has not had a conversation with their parents that lasted 10 minutes in more than a month.
�¡31% of students in S.W. Michigan say their parents never help them with homework, never talk with them about what they are doing in school, never ask about homework, and never go to any meetings or events at school.
�¡The number of single dads grew 70%, and the number of households headed by single moms grew 25% in the last decade.
�¡Nuclear families have dropped to below 25% of all households.
�¡Studies reveal that 85% of the people who make a commitment to Jesus Christ make the decision by the age of 18, or they never will.


Music and Television
�¡Teens are glued to the TV on average for 5 hours per day.
�¡Teens listen to an average of forty hours of music per week. Most of the teen music aims at aggressive and violent messages about sex and drugs.

Prostitution
�¡95% of prostitutes are runaways.

�¡At any time there are 600,000 adolescents involved in prostitution.
�¡The average runaway�fs first act of prostitution takes place at 14 years old.
�¡About 1 billion dollars is spent on prostitution each year in the United States.


Sexual Activity
�¡50% of all teens are sexually active.
�¡8 in 10 girls and 6 in 10 boys wish they had waited until they were older before having sex.
�¡Due to sexual activity 15.3 million people contract a sexually transmitted disease and 2/3 of that number are teenagers.
�¡Experts estimate that 90% of all rapes are never reported.
�¡In Michigan Public Schools grades 9-12, 44% of females and 45% of males have had sexual intercourse.
�¡In Michigan Public Schools grades 9-12, 31% of females and 31% of males have had sexual intercourse in the past 3 months.
�¡In Michigan Public Schools grades 9-12, 12% of females and 15% of males have already had at least 4 sexual partners.

Sexual Assault
�¡Somewhere in America a woman is sexually assaulted every 2 minutes, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. www.rainn.org
�¡Out of 7,000 college girls surveyed on 32 different campuses, 1 in 8 were victims of Date Rape and 1 in 12 men admitted to having forced a woman to have intercourse.
�¡68% of rape victims knew their assailant. www.rainn.org
�¡According to the Justice Department, 1 in 2 rape victims is under age 18, 1 in 6 is under age 12.
�¡1 out of 3 girls have been sexually abused before age 18.
�¡1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 boys are sexually molested before 18.
�¡In America a woman is sexually assaulted every two minutes.
�¡1 in 4 rapes take place in a public area such as a parking garage.

Substance Abuse
�¡ Junior and Senior High School students consume 1.1 billion dollars on beer.
�¡Medically alcohol is defined not only as a drug, but a narcotic drug. Since it meets the qualifications of altering moods and behavior, causes dependence and addiction.
�¡Alcohol is classified as a poison therefore receiving the terminology of intoxication upon over consuming.
�¡18% of teens drink more than once per month, 18% drink regularly, and 25% smoke regularly.
�¡2 million American teens start smoking each year and 75% continue to smoke for 10 years after and most for their entire lifetime.
�¡10% of youth ages 12-17 report using illicit drugs.
�¡An estimated 1.8 million Americans 12 and older are current users of cocaine.
�¡Youth ages 12-17 who currently smoked cigarettes were 11.4% times more likely to use illicit drugs and 16 times more likely to drink heavily.
�¡56% of youth reported marijuana as easy to obtain.
�¡21% of youth reported heroin as easy to obtain.
�¡14% of youth reported being approached by someone selling drugs during the thirty days prior to the poll.
�¡113 million youth ages 12-17 reported currently drinking alcohol.
�¡33 million youth ages 12-17 admit to being binge drinkers (meaning 5 or more drinks in one occasion)
�¡12 million youth ages 12-17 were heavy drinkers or otherwise classified as alcoholics.
�¡77% of Michigan high school students had tried alcohol, 67% have tried cigarette smoking, 41% have tried marijuana, and 18% have used another type of illegal drug (i.e., LSD, PCP, ecstasy, mushrooms, speed, ice, or heroin) at least once in their life.


Suicide
�¡ In the U.S. more people kill themselves than are killed by all other causes.
�¡8 of 10 people who kill themselves give clues before doing so.
�¡There is an 80% chance that people who fail an attempted suicide will try again.
�¡10% of girls contemplate suicide while 7.5% of guys do.
�¡22 % of students in Michigan have seriously considered suicide, while 8% have actually attempted suicide.
�¡Every thirty minutes in America - 29 kids will attempt suicide, 2,795 teenage girls will become pregnant, and 22 girls will get abortions.

Teen Pregnancy
�¡4 in 10 teenage girls get pregnant at least once before they reach the age of twenty.

�¡The United States has the highest rate of teen pregnancy in the industrialized world.
�¡Teen pregnancy costs society at least $7 billion dollars a year.
�¡From girls ages 15 to 19, 86% of births were to unmarried teens.
�¡40% of infants born in Barry County are born to teenage girls

I know this is from an American website and the figures are relating to the US, but its just as applicable over here.
Youth make up 40% of our population but are 100% of our future!!!

Not a single reply.... I'm not suprised in the slightest - this is the problem, politicians and the government don't want to know. No-one cares about the future, Revelation doesnt look quite so ridiculous now, it looks realistic. Kids of today - you are screwed. Expect more riots like the ones you saw in London for as long as the issue is ignored this behaviour will only escalate Watch this space - i'm no prophet - its not hard to see what is coming very soon.

Hi Pop.....only just read your thread....very, very interesting....such a big issue....

big issue.... Want to buy one? LOL

Well that's that then...the end of civilisation as we know it.

Dear Gordon.....now then, now then...just cost the 'gooner's' trophy cabinet is empty again.....

All of the previous generations to blame. Bliss.

Simon, All that matters is we pip the Spuds and get CL next season.

Popcorn, Reads like you could do with a strong dose of Charlie Brooker...its all gone wrong.

Whats that then?

He writes in the Guardian about rubbish like you wrote.

I don't care anymore. It will end in tears. No-one cares about the youth of today, all I'm saying is, if the country continues to poo on the youth, expect more rioting ;-)

Gordon....easy son.....

Do you not care about the future of this country?

You're starting to sound like Maude Flanders.

Popcorn: Patience. You flood us with ""information encompassing a wide variety of issues...Just because you came to a conclusion in seconds after reading a website does not mean we have to jump in and agree.

Popcorn you sound like you have DM Syndrome. There's a safe place for you: www.dailymailonline.co.uk.

Well I thought it was an interesting topic, obviously you find it more amusing to mock me, good for you, I didn't actually believe anyone cared about the future generations anyway. Oh well let's continue to kid ourselves there is a good future ahead of us all ey? Ignorance is bliss

Popcorn: Don't mind Gordon. He has problems relating to reality..

Ah, the poor darlings. They'll still have it better than the millions and millions of children who lack medical care, drinking water, sufficient food, a country at peace. A teenager having a spliff and listening to music for hours is a lucky one, not one wondering whether he'll survive another year and not one either who'd serve as a poster child for a Britain Is Doomed campaign.

Popcorn, did I say that I wasn't interested?

Where did you get your factoids, wwwchristianmingle.com?

There's lots 'wrong' maybe, but do you have any objective evidence to support your claim that we are doomed?
Where's your sense of perspective?

You said it...YOU are kidding yourself, with what you believe to be your objective analysis of the state of society. But I get the feeling you enjoy playing Cassandra.

AAh, factoids. A BBC Radio 2 listener. That explains a lot...

You're conflating a number of different things there. A lot of it, the material stuff, is not specific to young people. However, it is true we have serious problems, particularly with childhood happiness; and the underlying reason is we've prioritised careers and consumption over family.

'If you don't do what I say, expect more rioting' - been here before, haven't we?

PS, A whole hour and no replies? Makes you wonder what people are doing with their time, eh?

Thank you gille for probably the first decent response with the exception of monica who missed the point a tad but still a compelling post. As for rioting, I'm fortunate in the fact I don't live in london, and would not partake in such a pointless exercise but many others will london is where it happened last time then it spread. What makes you think it won't happen again? the state of the youth as a whole and in general (this is a generalisation) is appalling.

The governments all-party group on social mobility revealed the prospects of 50% of all kids in the UK are linked entirely to the circumstances of their parents from the age of 3. In comparison Australia 17% and Denmark at 15% source: organisation for economic co-operation and development