Home
/
RELIGION & LIBERTY ONLINE
/
7 Figures: The Dangers Kids and Teens Face
7 Figures: The Dangers Kids and Teens Face
Jan 20, 2026 9:20 AM

Parents worry a lot about their kids. But which dangers are most probable? Pew Research recently conducted a study examining the data on the dangers that teens and kids face.

Here are seven figures you should know from the report:

1. Around 15 percent of eighth-graders, three-in-ten high-school sophomores and four-in-ten seniors report some use of illicit drugs in the past 12 months. More than 1-in-3 (35.3 percent) high school seniors reported any alcohol use in the past 30 days, and 11.4 percent reported smoking cigarettes. Seniors were also as likely to have smoked marijuana in the past 30 days (21.3 percent) as to have gotten drunk (20.6 percent).

2. Nearly 1 our of every 4 (24.7 percent) high-school students say they’ve been in a physical fight at least once in the past 12 months before the 2013 survey. (Only 3.1 percent needed medical attention after the fight.)

3. In 2012, the arrest rate for youths ages 10 to 17 was around four of every 100 youths. While the rates for all racial subgroups has been declining, the arrest rate for black youths is still more than twice that of any other group.

4. There were 24.2 births per 1,000 teen females in 2014, a record low. The rates, however, differ considerably between racial subgroups: the highest subgroup birth rate was Hispanic teens (41.7 per 1,000) while the lowest was Asian teens (8.7 per 1,000).

5. About one-in-ten adolescents, or around 2.6 million, have experienced major depression in the past year, with 7.7 percent saying their depression caused severe impairment.

6. In 2013, the last year for which there plete data, 1,258 youths were reported killed by firearms (equivalent to 1.71 per 100,000), and 6,104 suffered nonfatal firearm injuries (8.29 per 100,000). Broken out by subgroups, the rate of nonfatal firearm injury was 1.68 per 100,000 for white youths, 5.3 per 100,000 for Hispanic youths, and 24.67 per 100,000 for black youths.

7. According to the FBI’s National Crime Information Center, only 332 stranger abductions were reported last year; since 2007, the number of stranger abductions has ranged between 200 and 520.

Comments
Welcome to mreligion comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
RELIGION & LIBERTY ONLINE
‘Reverse’ subsidies
A couple weeks ago the NYT magazine ran a piece by contributing writer Tina Rosenberg, which attempts to outline some of the ways in which “everyone in a wealthy nation has e the beneficiary of the generous subsidies that poorer countries bestow upon rich ones.” What does she mean? In “Reverse Foreign Aid,” Rosenberg asserts that there are five major forms of poor-to-rich international subsidy. The first is the tendency among poorer nations to build-up great reserves of hard currency,...
Global warming media day
It’s global warming media day at the NYT and elsewhere following the SCOTUS decision on Massachusetts v. EPA: Linda Greenhouse, “Justices Say E.P.A. Has Power to Act on Harmful Gases,” New York Times.Andrew C. Revkin, “Reports From Four Fronts in the War on Warming,” New York TimesEditorial, “The Court Rules on Warming,” New York Times“The Global Warming Survival Guide,” Time (HT: Zondervan>To the Point)“Warming ruling squeezes Bush from both sides,” MSNBCDavid B. Rivkin, Jr., “Discussion Board: Thoughts on Mass v....
A one-size-fits-all approach to charity regulation?
Anyone concerned with good governance in the nonprofit sector — and it’s independence — should read the updated draft report on “principles of effective practice” issued by Independent Sector. The group has been working closely with the Senate Finance Committee, which for the past two years has been investigating abuses in the world of charities and nonprofits. The abuses, which usually involve excessive pensation and lavish perks, pop up with dreary regularity. A good example of this is what’s been...
Faith-based organizations measure success
Here’s a mended read for anyone interested in measuring the effectiveness of a faith-based charity. The Heritage Foundation has published a special report titled, e-Based Evaluation: Faith-Based Social Service Organizations and Stewardship” by Patrick F. Fagan, Ph.D., Claudia Horn, Calvin W. Edwards, Collette Caprara, and Karen M. Woods — Acton’s former Director of Effective Compassion. Summary: e-based evaluation has the potential to engender a revolution of increased effectiveness in the mu­nity and to debunk skeptics’ claim that faith-based programs are...
John Paul II: a Protestant tribute
Those who know me are not surprised to learn that I sincerely admired Pope John Paul II for many years. At first, like many Protestants, I saw him only as the pope, thus as a person standing in some kind of opposition to my own Christian faith. After I began to grasp what I believed about the Creed’s affirmation regarding “one, holy, catholic church” I found my heart melted to love all Christians everywhere. It was not hard for me...
Virtue and freedom in a culture of enterprise
Last week I participated in the inaugural “Culture of Enterprise in an Age of Globalization” symposium at the Cato Institute. The event, co-sponsored by Cato and the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, is part of an ambitious new program that aims to encourage scholarly reflection on and greater awareness of those factors that contribute to the building and maintaining of a humane and vibrant economy—a “culture of enterprise.” The papers are available for listening or viewing at Cato’s site. If you observe...
A Psalm for Holy Week
Psalm 22 – A Cry of Anguish and Song of Praise – A Psalm of David 1My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? 2O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent. 3But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. 4Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted,...
EPA must examine climate change link
The Supreme Court ruled today (5-4) in the case of Massachusetts v. EPA (05-1120) “that the federal government had the authority to regulate greenhouse gases that may contribute to global warming, and must examine anew the scientific evidence of a link between those gases and climate change.” Toward the end of last year some were arguing that “this case is not about the science of climate change. There is no dispute that human emissions of greenhouse gases affect the global...
New Call of the Entrepreneur website
is now open to the public. Stop on by for the latest updates on Acton’s new documentary, The Call of the Entrepreneur. You can view the trailer via YouTube or watch a higher resolution version via the “View the Trailer” tab. Find out where the premieres will be, or request to host a screening by visiting the “Premiere Information” tab. To see a little bit more about the people featured in the documentary, visit the “About the Film” tab....
Climate Conspiracy Theory (w/apologies to CS Lewis)
MY DEAR WORMWOOD, It is indeed fortunate that Our Father has seen fit to quech our appetites in another way and put you in a new role despite your losing in quite dramatic style your former patient to our Enemy. At least you have the good sense to continue our counsel together. I note what you say about your patient’s apparent obsession with things terrestrial and that you’ve been taking care that he sees a good deal of his apoplectic...
Related Classification
Copyright 2023-2026 - www.mreligion.com All Rights Reserved