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The Top Ten Fears of Our Youth
Research on today's most unreached group.
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According to our research, teenagers today are the most unreached people for Christ in the nation. Less than 10 percent of America's youths have accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior. Our research team has interviewed hundreds of young people. In the course of these interviews we came to understand and appreciate them even more. Among the many areas where we learned so much, perhaps the most revealing was hearing about their fears. There are two basic reasons churches today do not reach youth. The first is that they simply do not try to reach young people with the gospel. There is no intentionality. The second is that many leaders and laypersons do not understand youths. It is my prayer that this brief background will help you understand teens better and thus have a greater passion to reach them. In this article, I look at the 10 greatest fears of our young people. Fear # 10: "I will never have a happy marriage and family."A majority of youths do not believe they will have an intact and "good" family when they reach adulthood. One of the greatest desires for their future is a good home life. Among the youths we surveyed, 73 percent believe that children of divorced parents have more problems than children of non-divorced parents. Among their clearly articulated desires, having one marriage partner for life was near the top. And most of the youths we surveyed expressed a deep need to have a spouse and children within a few years. But they fear that the trends of culture mean that very few of them will see these desires fulfilled. Fear # 9: "Someone I know or love will die of AIDS (maybe me!)."For the teens of today, AIDS is not some distant problem known only through the evening news. To the contrary, the disease is ever-present in the minds of these young people. And though a superficial discussion may not uncover this fear, our interviews confirmed their numerous concerns about the disease.
The American Board of Family Practice discovered this fear when asking youths to cite their greatest concerns for the future. Among the top five concerns was the fear of AIDS, specifically someone close to them getting AIDS. Not only are the youths fearful of AIDS for the future of their nation and world, they fear the disease infecting someone in their families. Almost every teenager we surveyed had knowledge of someone in his or her school, church, neighborhood, or community getting the dreaded disease. For this generation, AIDS is a real and present danger getting ever closer to them and their families. I remember well a discussion with a 17-year-old male who seemed extremely agitated about AIDS. |        
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nannaa saleh
hi I'm nana and My worst fear is that the world may become an unharmonised, corrupted place which we live in where we long to die. I believe you cant change the world and each individuals belief but you can correct yourself, it all starts with one step. Take it. and the fears listed above are rarely brought up in my society, people believe that marriage is the best gift god has gifted us with, and pretty much wait for the time to wed.
Cheyenne
Most people have these fears, sure, but I haven't known anybody that frets over stuff like this... Especially when you're like, 14 through 18- unless you have sex with every person you've met or you already have your own place to stay where you have to pay rent or whatever. I don't fret over any of these besides the "being too busy" part. I like the article, but I don't like how all teens' fears are put into these bizarre categories....
Rap Posnik
In Response to the Annonymous 17 year old..You are correct..I was there once, you would look at me as some old guy..but I learned at age 9, there was a God..I actually cursed God because of my life..I rebelled against my only parent..I was trying to find my way..But I knew there was a greater power. It wasn't till I reached adulthood, what was going on in my life was not my doing. God was giving me a sampling of life. My friend there are a lot of false prophets..There is only one true God, and you only can get to him through His Son, Jesus. Yes I am preaching, but only because...I believe...I believe what is written in the Bible is the True Word..Being in a church is being in community with others, good and bad..I wonder about surveys..and the samplings...but your answer was very true, and my answer to you is the same...true..Blessings.....Pastor rap
Peggy Crai
I live in Florida and I must say that I was shocked at the concerns of this section of teenagers. I have talk to the young people in my class and things like, choosing the right career, graduation high school and making their own decisions and how to serve Jesus in a way pleasing to him and knowing more about him was the top concerns. I guess it is the place you grow up and the influence in the home and social surrounding that make the teens concerned about different things.
Anonymous
i'm 17 and a christian and would like to explain this article from my point of view. These fears are completely false for me and for every other teenager i know. I live in a suburb of Chicago and I've never met someone with AIDs nor anyone who fears or even thinks about marriage and their unborn children. Adolescence is a time to figure out what you believe in and explore who you are as a person before stating your beliefs. THAT is the main reason so many teens dont believe in God (yet). Additionally, many people in their youth like to rebel against their parents so they can feel more independent. I think thats especially true with my friends who come from Christian homes where parents try to shove their beliefs down their kids throat. So if youre parents reading this, take that piece of advice over this article!
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