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 across America. 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 the fears of our youths.

There are two basic reasons churches today do not reach youths. The first reason is they simply do not try to reach young people with the gospel. There is no intentionality. The second reason is that many leaders and laypersons do not understand the young people. 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 continue looking at the ten greatest fears of our young people. I take the top 10 fears in reverse order and look at fears seven though four in this article. In the next article I will share fears three through one.

Fear # 7: "I cannot find time to do everything."

The youths of today may be the busiest generation in America's history. Life is getting exceedingly complicated for them. They are busier than ever with extracurricular activities, community involvement, work, and responsibilities at home, especially if both parents work.

One of the key reasons teens are so busy is that they have so many choices. They have more choices in sports, more choices in recreation, more choices in school, and even more choices in church. But these teens have shown little discernment in making choices. Often they refuse to say "no" to any option; the result is frustration and sometimes burnout.

One 14-year-old girl explained it this way: "Mom wants me to be involved in a lot of activities at school. She wants me to take college prep courses. And of course she wants me to be involved in church. But she works a lot, so I have to clean house, cook, and baby-sit." I asked this girl how she felt right now. Her response was concise but clear: "Tired, real tired."

Fear # 6: "I can't tell right from wrong."

One of the distinguishing features of youths today is their inability to tell right from wrong. And many of them know they do not know. Fifty-six percent of female teens and 61 percent of male teens think their generation has a serious problem because they have no sense of right and wrong.

Teenagers are confused. Not only do the majority of them admit that they have difficulty discerning right from wrong; they also say that such concepts as right and wrong are elusive and situational. With this type of mindset, what then can we anticipate from this generation as they lead us in the twenty-first century?

Fear # 5: "Peer pressure scares me."

Peer pressure is nothing new. Every generation faces challenges and pressures from people whom they loosely identify as friends. Paul is a 14-year-old from Tennessee. His peers see him as a likeable and friendly person. Most of them do not see Paul as one who would yield to peer pressure for wrongful acts.

"I guess I have kept my nose clean," Paul responds. "Other than some minor things, I've never really been in trouble." One of the girls in the focus group asks Paul if it is easy to say "no" to his friends when they try to get him to do something he knows is wrong.

"Easy? Hardly. I don't like being made fun of. I don't like being called a wimp. But you know what really bothers me? I'm afraid that one day I won't say no. The pressure is just so incredible."

Fear # 4: "I (or someone I know) will be a victim of violence or crime."

The youths of today are the most violent generation in America's history. They are the victims or criminals in a growing trend of violence. In 1950 the rate of 14- to 17-year-old who been arrested for a felony was four per 1,000. Today it has increased over 30 times to 118 per 1,000.

Many youths live in fear. Among boys, one in three carries a weapon with the intention of using it if necessary. Each year over a million secondary school teachers are threatened with physical violence and over 5,000 are actually physically assaulted.

The violence portrayed in the media seems to have a paradoxical effect on young people. The ever-present scenes of violent acts and gory incidents lower the level of sensitivity to violence in the real world. Meanwhile, the deluge of violence on television and in the movies engenders a fear among teens that "it might happen to me."

To Understand, Not to Depress

We are presenting this information on the youths of America not to offer depressing information, but to help Christians understand the fears of these young people. And by better understanding them, we can be better equipped to reach out to them in the name and love of Christ, their only hope.