Thomas Mott Osborne: “We live in troubled times for young people. Over 36 years of coaching I saw cultural changes that negatively impacted…”

“We live in troubled times for young people. Over 36 years of coaching I saw cultural changes that negatively impacted children. The out-of-wedlock birth rate went from 5 percent in 1960 to roughly 33 percent today. The United States has become the most violent nation in the world for young people in terms of homicide and suicide. Drug and alcohol addiction has increased dramatically. We currently have roughly 3 million teenage alcoholics and hundreds of thousands who are addicted to other types of drugs. Teen pregnancy has skyrocketed. The greatest single factor in this alarming transformation has been fatherlessness. There are currently 24 million fatherless children in the United States. Up to 60 percent of today's children will spend at least part of their childhood separated from their biological fathers, and many fathers who are present are emotionally absent because of work commitment and simple lack of interest in their children's lives. Fatherless children have a great deal of trauma and dysfunction in their lives. They are much more likely to commit crimes and engage in substance abuse.”