CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) – Every study about youth mental health is abysmal. 1 in 4 teenagers have been diagnosed with a mental health disorder. One in 6 teens feel stressed out all the time; it’s higher, 1 out of 4, for girls. Most, 64-percent, don’t talk about their mental health struggles with anyone. 35% of teens have contemplated suicide.
Some of these numbers may be worse because of COVID. Teens have learned that ‘normal life,’ whatever that is, can disappear overnight. Suddenly all the connectivity of school, and activity, and being around friends can vanish almost instantly.
I think there’s a faith component to this, too. Fewer kids, about 1-out-of-3, regularly attend church. Most who go say it’s because their parents make them.
So the message that kids are missing is that we aren’t subject to a series of random misfortunes in our lives. There is a higher power, an author, of our time on earth. That God has made promises to us – that we have a future and a hope – and that things are never as hopeless as we perceive them. Young people probably aren’t aware that our lives, all of them, are of immeasurable value. Our worth goes far beyond current circumstances. When I was young, I had moments of incredible disappointment and sadness. Never once did I think of harming myself. Even as a naive high schooler, I knew that the circumstances of my life would change from time to time.
What kids need most today is one of the foundational messages of Christianity. That we are not here randomly to be toyed with by the day-to-day of our lives. We are here for a greater purpose. You’ll only know what the purpose is by living out the life that God sets before you.
Chris Conley
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