by Michael Snyder

The End of The American Dream blog

The facts that I am about to share with you are likely to make you very angry. 

Our system does not work, and millions upon millions of young people are having their lives ruined as a result.  The following are 13 numbers that show how dramatically we have failed America’s children…

#1 One recent survey found that 40 percent of U.S. parents “worry their children struggle with anxiety or depression”.

#2 During the pandemic, suicide became the second leading cause of death for U.S. children between the ages of 10 and 14.

#3 Suicide is also the second leading cause of death for Americans between the ages of 15 and 24.

#4 According to a recent Pew Research Center poll, 46 percent of U.S. kids between the ages of 13 and 17 have experienced cyberbullying.

#5 40 percent of U.S. high school students “felt so sad or hopeless” in 2021 that “they were unable to do their regular activities”.

#6 According to the CDC, “more than 95% of children and adolescents in the U.S. spend much of their daily lives in school”.

#7 At 23 schools in Baltimore, not one single student is proficient in math.

#8 At 30 schools in Illinois, not one single student can read at grade level.

#9 At 53 schools in Illinois, not one single student can do math at grade level.

#10 According to the CDC, nearly 20 percent of all adolescent female students experienced sexual violence in 2021.

#11 According to the CDC, nearly 60 percent of all adolescent female students “experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness” in 2021.

#12 According to the CDC, nearly 25 percent of all adolescent female students “made a suicide plan” in 2021.

#13 The proportion of adolescent female students that actually attempted suicide in 2021 was 60 percent higher than a decade ago.

There is nothing “normal” about these numbers.

The mental health of our young people has been declining for years, and a spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics is telling us that the number of kids and adolescents dealing with mental health issues “has increased exponentially since the pandemic”…