Thursday, September 27, 2007

Putting Today’s Youth in Context

I stumbled upon this terrific website the other day: Youthfacts.org. It’s dedicated to exposing the rather hysterical stereotypes and doom and gloom predictions today’s “experts” and media propagate about today’s youth.

They take the very statistics used to paint today’s generation of kids as troubled or lacking, and show how they prove just the opposite, especially when compared to their baby boomer parents. For the truth is, today’s kids are much more likely to have a drug using, alcohol abusing, or suicidal adult in their life than they are to commit such acts themselves. And while losing even one kid to those influences is too many, it’s important to see them as they really are, which is living in families and communities where these behaviors are modeled by the adults around them. Still a tragedy, but not one of their making. And if we have any hope of addressing their behavior, we have to truly understand the root causes.

It’s a fascinating read of the statistics and a good tool for setting the record straight on today’s youth. Check it out!

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