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Between 1960 and 1991, unwed pregnancies have increased 310 percent among 15- to 19-year-olds. At present, one in ten American
teenage females — 12 percent of all female
teenagers and 21 percent of those who have had sexual intercourse — become pregnant annually, which adds up to more than three
thousand a day. Of these more than three
thousand pregnancies per day, approximately 46 percent result in live births, 41 percent are aborted
(an increase of 67 percent since 1973) and the remainder end in
miscarriage or stillbirth. One of four teenage mothers will have a second child within one year of her first child's birth.
Most teen mothers are single and receive no support from the father. Eight of ten teen mothers do not finish high school. According to the Center for Disease Control, 85 percent of all children exhibiting behavioral disorders come from fatherless homes. Other statistical findings indicate that children from fatherless homes are: thirty-two times more likely to run away; nine times more likely to drop out of high school; fourteen times more likely to commit rape; ten times more likely to be substance abusers; and twenty times more likely to end up in prison.71
Besides breeding another lost generation of children, the growing sexual promiscuity among the youth carries the potential of tremendous health problems. Sexually transmitted diseases are now infecting three million American teenagers annually.72
- About 820,000 girls get pregnant each year in the United States.
- 34% of young women get pregnant at least once before age 20.
- Fourteen percent of high school aged males report causing at least one pregnancy.
- The United States has the highest rates of teen pregnancy and births in the industrialized world.
Since 1960, the violent crime rate in America has increased at least fivefold. In 1960, there were 160.9 violent crimes per 100 thousand citizens; in 1992 there were 757.5.18 The second figure is alarming, not only due to the tremendous increase in crime it represents, but especially due to the ages of the offenders it includes. Juvenile delinquency once meant speeding in hod rods. Today, children kill other children without compunction or remorse. Even ten years ago, defendants in homicide cases averaged between ages twenty and twenty-five. Now defendants are typically ages fifteen to twenty.19
Police records of violent youth show that arrests of young Americans between the ages of thirteen and twenty for homicide, robbery and aggravated assault increased greatly in the 1960s (as much as 84 percent in the case of homicide.)20 During the following decade, arrests for persons under eighteen years of age for eight serious crimes increased more than 231 percent. In 1981, juveniles accounted for over one out of three arrests for robbery, one out of every three arrests for crime against property, one out of six arrests for rape, and one out of eleven arrests for murder. In 1981, about one teenager out of every fifteen in the nation was arrested.20 Between 1983 and 1991, crimes committed by juveniles under eighteen showed another staggering increase: robberies have increased five times, murders have tripled, and rapes have doubled.21 More than five hundred children arrested for rape in 1991 were twelve.22
Cold-bloodedness has become commonplace. “Youngsters used to shoot each other in the body. Then in the head,” Judge Susan R. Winfield said in 1994. “Now they shoot each other in the face.”23
Today, children kill or rape each other children without compunction or remorse. Even ten years ago, defendants in homicide cases averaged between ages twenty and twenty-five. Now defendants are typically ages fifteen to twenty.19
Police records of violent youth show that arrests of young Americans between the ages of thirteen and twenty for homicide increased greatly in the 1960s (as much as 84 percent in the case of homicide.)20 In 1981, juveniles accounted for one out of six arrests for rape, and one out of eleven arrests for murder. Between 1983 and 1991, crimes committed by juveniles under eighteen showed another staggering increase: murders have tripled, and rapes have doubled.21
"The Bureau of Justice Statistics estimates that 2.8% of all children under the age 18 have at least one parent in a local jail, State or Federal prison- a total of 1,941,796 kids. One in 40 have an incarcerated father, and 1 in 359 have an incarcerated mother".
According to the police much of the violence is related to drug abuse. This is confirmed by research. Before the 1950s, the social problems of drugs were relatively narrow and confined. Problems existed with heroin in larger cities, marijuana had a small following, some amphetamine abuse existed, but drugs were rarely mentioned as a major social issue.48 But since then, the situation has changed drastically. According to one source, teenage drug arrests in the United States have risen 1,451 percent since 1965.49 A 1987 Gallup report indicated that before graduating from high school, a staggering percentage of teenagers were hooked on mind-altering drugs of some type; 85 percent have experimented with alcohol, and 57 percent have tried an illicit drug.50
Increasing rates of heroin use among youth are equally frightening. While heroin use among young people remains quite low, use among teens rose significantly in eighth, tenth, and twelfth grades during the 1990s. In each grade (eighth, tenth and twelfth), 2.1 percent of students have tried this horrible drug.
Similar concerns are raised by the rate of underage drinking. In 1997, the MTF found that 15 percent of eighth, 25 percent of tenth, and 31 percent of twelfth graders reported binge drinking in the two weeks prior to being interviewed. Between 1996 and 1997, the incidence of binge drinking rose by 15 percent among 12- to 17-year-olds. Heavy drinking has increased by almost 7 percent during the same period.53
New research indicates that the younger the age of drinking onset, the greater the chance that an individual at some point in life will develop a “clinically defined alcohol disorder.” Young people who began drinking before age fifteen were four times more likely to develop alcohol dependence than those who began drinking at age twenty-one. Here again, underage alcohol use is a risk factor that correlates with higher incidences of drug use among young people.54
The leading cause of death in this age group (15 to 24 years of age) is automobile accidents, of which the majority is related to alcohol abuse. The suicide rate for American 10- to 14-year-olds increased by 190 percent between 1963 and 1995, from 0.6 to 1.74 per 100 thousand.75
The suicide rate among American youth, especially those 15- to 24-years-old, has increased dramatically during the past three decades. From 1957 to 1987 the suicide rate for 15- to 24-year-olds increased from 4 to 12.9 per 100 thousand. During the same period, the suicide rate for the general population rose from 9.8 to 12.7 per 100 thousand.73 Today, suicide is the second leading cause of death for 15- to 24-year-olds.74
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