1. Confident Parenting in Turbulent Times
Protecting Our Kids from the
Dangers in Today’s Culture

6. The National Center for Fathering
“Father of the Year Essay Contest”
The National Center for Fathering

7. "My dad is the best dad ever. I would kiss a pig for him."
From a first grader:
"My dad is the best dad ever. I would kiss a pig for him."

8. From another first grader:
"My dad is a Frito-Lay man. That is an important job because Frito-Lay means chips, which is food. That is so important because you could not live without food."

9. A Third Grader
"The dad in my life isn't really my dad. He's my Grandpa. But he's been like a dad to me since before I was born I hope that as I get older Grandpa will teach me all the stuff he knows about wood, and first-aid, and everything else he knows about. My Grandpa isn't my Father, but I wouldn't trade him for all the dads in the world."

10. A Fourth Grader
"Sometimes as a joke I'll put my stinky socks in his briefcase, so at work the next day he will think of me! He's always at the concerts and plays that I'm in, even though he lives about an hour away."

11. A Fifth Grader
"…You know what else my dad does? He braids my hair. I'm the only girl I know whose dad braids her hair. I think that's a perfect dad. He already is the world's greatest dad to me. I just wanted everyone to know that."

12. A Sixth Grader
"One time I had an assembly and I was a soloist and my dad was in the first row and after my song I smiled at my dad and my dad smiled back and started crying. That was the best thing I ever saw."

13. Finally, this one from a seventh-grader:
"Fatherhood is a lifelong commitment. I have seen through my father's actions, words, and decisions that he will be committed to me and my life from the second I was born, almost 13 years ago, to the day I die....Even if you assembled the most brilliant team of scientists and artists there was, there still is no possible way you could duplicate my father."

14. KIDS AT RISK

15. KIDS AT RISK
In Your Congregation
In Your Community
In Your Own Home

16. Media Influence Full-Time Job?
American children and teens spend an average of 8 hours and 33 minutes immersed in media each day. This includes TV, radio, music, magazines, computers, the Internet and video games.
68% of 8-17 year olds have a TV in their room; 37% have cable or satellite access;
20% of 2-year-olds and more than 30% of 3-to-6-year-olds have a television in their bedroom. 

17. Media Influence:
NO RULES 53% of 8-18 year-olds say their parents have no rules about TV watching. Of the remaining 47% of kids who say their parents do have rules, the vast majority say these rules are enforced only some of the time, a little of the time, or never.

18. The Internet
WEB SAVVY More than 76% of children ages 3 to 17 have access to a computer at home.

19. Media Influence: Online
64% of teens say they do things online that they wouldn't want their parents to know about.

20. Media Influence: Online
64% of teens say they do things online that they wouldn't want their parents to know about.
70% of 15- to 17-year-olds have looked at pornography online.

21. The Internet WEB PREDATORS
20% of kids have been solicited online for sex, usually through , texting or “chat rooms.”

22. A FEW TEXT MESSAGES THAT
The Internet
A FEW TEXT MESSAGES THAT
YOU SHOULD KNOW

23. A FEW TEXT MESSAGES THAT
The Internet
A FEW TEXT MESSAGES THAT
YOU SHOULD KNOW
POS

24. A FEW TEXT MESSAGES THAT
The Internet
A FEW TEXT MESSAGES THAT
YOU SHOULD KNOW
420

25. A FEW TEXT MESSAGES THAT
The Internet
A FEW TEXT MESSAGES THAT
YOU SHOULD KNOW
KPC

26. A FEW TEXT MESSAGES THAT
The Internet
A FEW TEXT MESSAGES THAT
YOU SHOULD KNOW
NIFOC

27. Drugs and Alcohol EXPERIMENTS Pot Cocaine
37% of teens have smoked marijuana. 9% have used Ecstasy and 8% have used methamphetamine.
Prescription and over-the-counter drug usage is rising.
18% of teens have abused Vicodin, 10% have tried OxyContin, 10% have used prescription stimulants such as Ritalin without a doctor's order, and 9% have abused OTC cough medications.
Pot
Cocaine

28. The percentage of kids who report drinking alcohol in the past 30 days
Drugs and Alcohol
KIDS AND BOOZE
The percentage of kids who report drinking alcohol in the past 30 days
17% of 8th graders
33% of 10th graders
47% of 12th graders

29. IN THE ACT 47% of high school students reported having sexual intercourse. 14% of today's teens say they’ve had sex with “multiple partners” (defined as sex with four or more different persons in their life). 54% of teen girls and 55% of teen boys have had oral sex. A poll by Seventeen magazine revealed that 56% of respondents don't think oral sex is “sex.”
Sexual Issues

30. The Impact of Media on Teens’ Sexual Behavior
Research by the RAND Corporation
Teens who watch TV programs with a lot of sexual content are twice as likely to engage in sexual intercourse than their peers who watch few such programs.

31. Depression and Suicide
DEPRESSING U.S. teens are experiencing symptoms of serious depression at higher rates than any generation in modern history. Nationwide, 16.9% of students have seriously considered attempting suicide during the previous 12 months.
About 25% of sexually active girls ages 14 to 17 say they are depressed all, most or a lot of the time. Only 8% of abstinent girls feel the same.

32. Depression and Suicide
ENDING IT ALL: Suicide rates for children and teens have quadrupled since the 1950’s. Suicide is the third leading cause of death for kids ages Girls are almost twice as likely as boys to think about suicide or try to take their own lives.

33. What You Can Do To Protect Your Kids Educate Yourself About the Risks
Provide Love, Limits and Time
Clearly State Your Expectations
Keep Lines of Communication Open
Make Faith Relevant in Your Home
Pray, Pray, Pray!

34. FOCUS ON THE FAMILY is here to help Thriving Family Magazine
Online Parenting Forums
“My Family”

35. FOCUS ON THE FAMILY is here to help
“Essentials of Discipline” DVD Series
Coming Soon…
The “Essentials of Parenting” DVD Series

36. FOCUS ON THE FAMILY is here to help PluggedIn.com
Focus on the Family’s most popular website
1 million visits per month

37. FOCUS ON THE FAMILY How to Drug-Proof Your Kids is here to help
DrugProofYourKids.com

38. A wide variety of relevant parenting resources
FOCUS ON THE FAMILY
is here to help
A wide variety of relevant parenting resources
Logged On Tuned Out: A Non-Techie’s Guide to
Parenting a Tech-Savvy Generation
The “Big Dig” Apologetics
Conference for Teens
Stand, Teen Christian worldview set

39. 1-800-A-FAMILY FOCUS ON THE FAMILY www.FocusontheFamily.com
is here to help
1-800-A-FAMILY