1. 1. WHO ARE THE PEOPLE WE SERVE?
a. meet teens where they are
b. being teens to Christ
c. remain close to the teens once Christ has changed their hearts
How Well Do You Know Your Teens?
By Roy Petitfils
As you read these statistics, I invite you not to think “I know this already.”
Instead, ask “How well do we recognize these issues in young people?”
and “How well are we reaching out to young people with these issues?”
a
50% of teens live in homes where parents are divorced. .
3
30% of those teens live in blended families
25-30% of teen girls have a diagnosable eating disorder
2
Of girls who have eating disorders ½ of them also self injure
s
20-30% of teens have tried to harm themselves (cutting or burning)
2
Youtube has over 5000 videos depicting youth “cutting” themselves
Girls are 4 times more likely than boys to cut themselves
G
Suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death in teens today.
2
25% of teens live in single parent families
1 out of 25 teens live with neither of their parents
63% of youth suicides occur in fatherless homes
f
Children from fatherless homes are 5x more likely to commit suicide
C
2/3 of all high school seniors have used illegal drugs
i
77% of 8th graders have used alcohol
2. 1 out of 10 teens identify as being gay
g
10-20% of teens have experienced same sex attraction
s
gay teens are twice as likely to commit suicide as heterosexual teens
3 out of 10 girls have experienced sexual abuse at some point in their
childhood
c
1 out of 7 boys report having experienced sexual abuse during childhood
Only 10-15% of child sexual abuse is reported
(Source: A whole bunch of places that I don’t have the time nor desire to cite.)
Some Common Excuses To Ignore the Above
I don’t have training. (Why aren’t you getting it? Why aren’t you providing
pastoral care training for your ministers and catechists?)
I don’t know what I’d do if my young people shared these things with
me. (See above. Also, if not you, who?)
I’m not a counselor. (Most young people don’t need a counselor. They
need someone to love them, walk with them through this and when
necessary help them talk to their parents and find the help they need.)
I can’t teach my staff how to deal with these issues. (What other things
can’t you teach your staff to do for which you delegate or outsource? We
budget what is important.)
The board (PTO, Administration, Pastor, etc.) won’t support me in
doing this. (How strong are your relationships with them? What can you
do to make them stronger? How are you presenting, defining, explaining
“this” to them?)
Talking to young people and their parents about these issues is
awkward. (That same awkwardness cost me many years growing up
morbidly obese. What else is awkwardness costing you? Others?)
I don’t know where I’ll find the time to fit this stuff in amidst all the
other things we’ve got going on. (We schedule what’s important. How
can you fit this into the programs, etc. you’re already doing? What is it time
to stop doing?)
I’m leading young people to Jesus so that he can heal them from
these things. (And Jesus is leading them back to you so that through
you, your heart, your hands, your voice, and your story he can heal them.
7
3. That is Incarnational ministry.)
Roy Petitfils, M.S. is a counselor, author and natioanlly sought after
presenter. He and his wife Mindi of 9 years live in Youngsville, LA
with their two sons Max and Ben. Roy can be contacted by email at
bigbaldspeaker@gmail.com or visit him on the web at
www.bigbaldspeaker.com.
Guttmacher Insititue
By their 19th birthday, seven in 10 teens of both sexes have had intercourse. [1]
On average, young people have sex for the first time at about age 17,[2,3] but
they do not marry until their mid-20s. [4] This means that young adults are at
increased risk of unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs)
for nearly a decade.
Teens have been waiting longer to have sex than they did in the recent past. In
2006–2008, some 11% of never-married females aged 15–19 and 14% of never-
married males that age had had sex before age 15, compared with 19% and
21%, respectively, in 1995. [1]
However, after substantial declines in the proportion of teens who had ever had
sex between 1995 and 2002, the level did not change significantly from 2002 to
2006–2008. [1]
In 2006–2008, the most common reason that sexually inexperienced teens gave
for not having had sex was that it was “against religion or morals” (42% among
females and 35% among males). The second and third most common reasons
for females were “don’t want to get pregnant” and “haven’t found the right person
yet.” [1]
Among sexually experienced teens, 72% of females and 56% of males report
that their first sexual experience was with a steady partner, while 14% of females
and 25% of males report a first sexual experience with someone whom they had
just met or who was just a friend. [1]
Seven percent of young women aged 18–24 who had had sex before age 20
report that their first sexual experience was involuntary. Those whose first
partner was three or more years their senior were more likely to report this than
were other women in that age-group. [1]
4. Teens in the United States and European teens have similar levels of sexual
activity. However, the latter are more likely to use contraceptives and to use
effective contraceptive methods; they therefore have substantially lower
pregnancy rates. [5]
Three percent of males and 8% of females aged 18–19 in 2002 reported their
sexual orientation as homosexual or bisexual; the proportions reporting same-
sex behaviors were similar. [6] Year
Syphilis
Chlamydia
Gonorrhea
Primary and secondary
All stages
Cases
Rate
Cases
Rate
Cases
Rate
Cases
Rate
1997
8,556
3.1
46,715
17.1
537,904
205.5
327,665
120.2
1998
7,007
2.5
38,290
13.9
614,250
231.8
356,492
129.2
1999
6,617
2.4
35,383
12.7
662,647
247.2
