Sometimes issues we hear discussed on the television or in the newspaper just don’t 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’s 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’s 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

 

 Regardless of these startling statistics, the solution to the problem is Jesus!

The staff at House of Hope work tirelessly to provide a place where hurting teens can find the life-giving message of Jesus Christ. We believe that the Bible knows what it’s talking about when it declares, “Love Never Fails!” (1 Corinthians 13:8). We would ask you to prayerfully consider how you can get involved to help the next generation come to know the Hope that only comes from Him.

We believe that every teen can claim the following verse:

“For I know the plans I have for you, ...plans to prosper and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”  Jeremiah 29:11

Young people may be 40% of the population, but they are 100% of our future!