The condition of our youth has significantly deteriorated. One-fifth of all 8th graders in the U.S. are considered to be at high risk of school failure.
Homicide is now the nation's third leading cause of death for elementary and middle school children.
There were 2,555 juvenile homicides in 1990. It is estimated that 135,000 guns are brought into schools every day. The incidence of births to unmarried teens nearly doubled between 1965 and 1985. Over a million adolescents get pregnant each year. The teen suicide rate has doubled since 1968.