Today’s world plays host to countless problems, problems that affect the youth, the adults and the elderly. However, the focus of this article is on the top ten problems that currently affect the youth in America.

10. Divorce/ single parent households: In 2014 there were about 12 million single parent families, and 80% of those families were led by single mothers. Today 1 in 4 children are being raised without a father, and 45% of them are below the poverty line. It is hard enough raising a human being with two parents, it is ten times harder raising a child with just one parent and a slew of financial issues. It is clear that this is a major issue especially considering that problems left unaddressed during the developmental stages of a person’s life can carry into later stages then snowball into bigger issues.  These issues are the ones we have to deal with on a world stage, making good parenting that much more important.

9. Anxiety/Pressure:  Anxiety is a big issue for the youth of today. This is a problem that extends to many cultures and countries. The amount of pressure put on the youth in today’s age is astounding. Today’s youth are growing up at a difficult time. Most have been sheltered in many ways by being given high expectations about what they should achieve and  where they will be once they leave school. As the years go by, the sense that we live in a collapsing economy that keeps the rich wealthy and the poor broken and hopeless is increasingly real and terrifying. This sense, along with many other both societal and economic factors contribute to the growing amount of stress and anxiety in young people. Young people are already concerned about what they wanted to do, now they have to worry about what they can do, in an economy that seems out of their control and at times also seems to be working against them.

8. Drug abuse: The major issue in this area is no longer just marijuana. The problem has widened and we’ve been able to see an increase in the amount of hard drugs introduced to young people. More and more teens are using prescription drugs such as Adderall and Xanax which can be dangerous and even life threatening in high doses. While it is unrealistic to expect people to stop using these drugs, there needs to be more education out there so that users don’t end up in potentially harmful situations which could negatively affect their academic life and their life as a whole.

7. Lack of education on College alternatives: Many people are under the delusion that in order to be successful in their life or respective careers they have to get a bachelor’s degree. This idea is not only false but also the reason that many get themselves into mountains of debt, which may take years, if not decades to overcome. Educating the youth in alternative ways they can get more training in their respective career choices without taking out loans and accumulating debt is important. Investing in a college is an extremely important decision, and more care needs be taken in deciding whether or not that idea of a four-year university is really for everybody.

6. Materialism: A current major problem for the youth is an issue of values. Though we might not like to admit it, we are greatly affected by our environment and the media. We are constantly being fed by the multitude of screens that are available to us in this digital age. We are fed opinions, facts, and propaganda that help to shape the people we become. Because of how impressionable we are, it is important that the youth is taught the right values.  We are taught that how successful you are is dictated by how many things you can get rather than how many things you can give. From this intrinsically greedy ideology, we see the molding of individuals that are more concerned with personal and temporary wealth rather than a long-lasting communal wealth.

5. Disparity in quality of education: Along with increasing poverty rates comes a decrease in the quality of education that is provided within the the schools of America. Students who live in poorer areas just aren’t getting the same opportunities and the same quality of education as those who live in wealthier areas. This isn’t anything new, however, there have yet to be any long-term and effective solutions presented for this problem. Therefore, this is a very prevalent issue that still needs to be addressed.

4. Shifting economy & Job skills constantly changing: Technology is changing everyday- and because of this, so are jobs. A career or practice that somebody devotes their life to may be antiquated or completely nonexistent 10 years down the line. As a result of this, many could be left without jobs. In the current economy it is difficult enough to get a job, but with the increase in the outsourcing of jobs to other countries things are getting even harder. The United States is part of global economy, which means that events happening in other countries can drastically affect prices for our stock exchanges, gas/oil and a multitude of other products sold within our country. This all means that low-paying bottom-of-barrel jobs will become a necessity for most just to survive in this country, and the power of a college degree will lessen over time.

3. Degradation of National pride/identity: We live in a social climate where Americans up and leave their country to join a terrorist organization in the middle east. How does this happen? Well, it happens when people feel so alienated and abused by a government that cares more about providing for large corporations than the common people, the people it’s supposed to work in favor of. Many people in the US are losing pride in their country as more and more information comes to light about how our government actually works and what it actually does. The youth is especially affected because they never felt like their opinion and experiences mattered in the first place. Now they find out the adults they put their trust in to represent them in political affairs don’t really have much of a say in what goes on in a government that will put money before freedom and democracy. On top of all this, a “self made” ideology is quite popular these days, which is perfectly fine except that people are losing sight of the importance of giving back to their community and raising up those who helped raise them up and/or can’t raise up themselves. This leaves a majority of people at the bottom, living essentially at the mercy of the elite.

2. Poverty: A majority of US public school students come from low income families. The growing inequality in this country will only make statistics like this worse and more prevalent. Some children are worried more about where their next meal will come from than what grade they will receive on a test. Poverty can hinder learning and lead to social and behavioral problems as well, which play out on a larger scale when a child leaves school.

1. Cost of college/ debt: Over forty million Americans now have student loan debt and the average amount hits around 30,000. With the information out there about the detriments of the college system, you might start to wonder whether or not it’s not just a giant monster determined to suck the money, dreams, aspirations, and time out of the youthful in exchange for a slip of paper that confirms to employers that you know what you’re doing. In all seriousness, it is a major issue that so many cannot afford to go to college in this day and age, considering the amount of importance that has been placed on higher education. The fact of the matter is that this “College Conundrum” has caused a lot of headaches and suffering along with many positive experiences. It seems either you find yourself and decide what you want to do for the rest of your life, or you receive a dollar amount that you’ll paying off for the rest of it.