Adolescent juvenile - even in the best circumstances - can still be a volatile period. In puberty, children often have to deal with new emotions and emotions. Everyday they are subjected to a lot of pressure from teachers and peers. They are also influenced by many other influences, such as television, film, music and the Internet. Thus, a United Nations report describing adolescence as "transitional period with traits that are often stressful and anxious".

Unfortunately, young people are too inexperienced to be able to cope effectively with those stresses and worries. (Proverbs 1: 4) Without proper guidance, children are prone to harmful behavior. For example, the UN report said: "Studies show that drug use often starts in adolescence or early adulthood." Other misbehavior such as violence and indiscriminate sex also occur at this age.

It is wrong for parents to assume that such things happen only in the "poor" or in minority communities. The problems faced by young people are no longer limited to any economic, social or racial component. "If you think 'juvenile delinquency' is only 17-year-olds from minority communities, living in complex areas with poor mothers living on subsidies, You do not follow the times ... The problem children today may be white, coming from middle-class or upper-class, under- or under-16s and maybe male or female " .

Why so many young people are at risk of falling so? Have not the younger generations faced the challenge and temptation? Yes, but we are now living in what the Bible calls "difficult times." (2 Timothy 3: 1-5) Today young people are confronted with situations and pressures that are unique in this particular period of history. Let's look at a few issues.

Changes in the family

Take, for example, the contemporary family scene. According to a report in the Journal of Instructional Psychology, "more than one-third of American children have witnessed divorce before 18." Similar statistics can be found in other Western countries. When relationships between parents are broken, they often suffer from emotional distress. "Usually compared to those with full parents or parents who have been divorced or remarried for a while, they have just experienced family disruptions," he said. In education, as well as in behavior, dealing with others at school ... In addition, parental divorce often causes them emotional distress and becomes insecure. "

The family scene also changes as more and more women go to work. A study of juvenile delinquency in Japan shows that families with parents are more difficult to care for their children than families with a parent or at home.

Recognize that many families need two sources of income to meet all their needs. Parents who work together can also give their children more comfortable lives. But this has the downside: millions of children can not meet their parents when they return home. And when parents get home, they are often tired, or preoccupied with problems at work. What happens? Many teens are less and less concerned about their parents. One complained: "My family does not have time to spend together."

Many observers find that this trend has a disastrous effect on the future of the younger generation. Dr Robert Shaw said: "I think the way in which children have been educated over the past 30 years has made their children more distant, less open, less educated and more difficult to teach. Slavery in a society with too much emphasis on material and achievement. This makes them spend so much time making money and spending so little time on activities necessary to get close to their children. "

Another risk to working-class teens is that they often have more free time, less supervision. Lack of parental supervision can lead to trouble.

Change the concept of teaching

Changing the notion of how parents treat their children also affects today's youth. Dr. Ron Taffel pointed out that many parents have "given up their authority." As a result, children grow up almost undisciplined or do not have instruction about how to behave.

Some parents seem inclined to behave in the opposite direction to the bad experiences they experienced in childhood. They want to be friends with their children-instead of the teacher. A mother confessed: "I was too easy because my parents were very strict; I do not want to treat my child like that. But I was wrong. "