TEEN MINISTRY

Youth drug abuse is a high-profile public health concern, with at least 1-in-8 teenagers abusing an illicit substance in the last year.

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Teenagers in Texas are 15.18% less likely to have used drugs in the last month than the average American teen.

• 177,000 or 7.07% of 12- to 17-year-olds report using drugs in the last month.

• Among them, 83.62% report using marijuana in the last month.

• 10.82% of all 12- to 17-year-olds report using marijuana in the last year.

• 0.44% report using cocaine in the last year.

• 0.12% report using methamphetamines.

• Up to 0.02% used heroin (data is limited).

• 3.91% report misusing pain relievers.

• 9.02% of all 12- to 17-year-olds used alcohol in the last month.

• They’re 1.40% less likely to use alcohol than the average American in their age group.

• 817,000 adults aged 18- to 25-years-old used drugs in the last month.

• 18- to 25-year-olds in Texas are 18.82% less likely to use drugs than the average American in the same age group.

• 2.51% of all 12- to 17-year-olds met the criteria for IDUD in the last year.

• 1.44% of all 12- to 17-year-olds met the criteria for AUD in the last year.

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Statistics Came From:

Teenage Drug Use Statistics [2023]: Data & Trends on Abuse (drugabusestatistics.org)

Texas Has One of the Highest Teen Birth Rates in the Nation

 

The teen birth rate signifies the number of teens who give birth each year. According to the CDC,

• Texas has a teen birth rate of 25.3.

• In other words, for every 1,000 girls aged 15-19 in Texas, 25.3 will give birth.

• This places Texas at number seven among the top 10 states with the highest teen birth rates.

• Texas ranked number one for repeat births among teens in 2016.

• This means that among women aged 15-19 giving birth, more than 19% already have at least one child.

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Texas Teens Are More Sexually Active Than Other Teens

The high texas teen pregnancy rate is due to the fact that teens in Texas tend to be more sexually active on average than teens in many other states.

 

• The 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Survey found that 42.7% of Texas teens had engaged in sexual intercourse at least once.

• In addition to this, 29.3% of teens in Texas reported being currently sexually active.

• While many teens are sexually active, not many utilize proper birth control.

• Over 50% of teens that are sexually active report not using a condom the last time they had sex.

We must educate our community teens on teen pregnancy rates and advocate for abstinence. 

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Statistics Came From: https://texasadoptioncenter.org/

​In the U.S., only around 60% of children live with married, biological parents. And the 40% are living in broken homes. 

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• Almost half of the divorces in Texas involve children under 18, who typically stay with either their mothers or fathers after the divorce.

• Currently, a significant number of children remain in their mother’s care.

• In 2021, 42.7% of women were granted child guardianship, compared to 18.7% of men.

• Texas boasts one of the lowest divorce rates in the nation, with a rate of 1.4 per 1,000 population in 2021.

• Among the most populated counties, Johnson County has the highest percentage of divorced individuals at 12.1%

• In the U.S., only around 60% of children live with married, biological parents. And the 40% are living in broken homes. 

 

Even though divorce is a common occurrence, it can have a long-lasting negative impact on teens.

 

Divorce can affect teens, mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. We must give them resources so they can properly deal with their issues and find healing.

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Statistics Came From:

www.verywellfamily.com

Teens are more focused on their phone than having genuine relationships or spending quality time with friends and family.

 

• A 2023 survey found that half of the teenagers in the United States between 15 and 17 years used the internet almost constantly.

• The share of teens between 13 and 14 years going online frequently was lower, 40 percent.

• Overall, 46 percent of U.S. teens surveyed said they used the internet almost continuously.

• Teenagers (13- to 18-year-olds) average about nine hours (8:56) of entertainment media use, excluding time spent at school or for homework.

• Half of teens send 50 or more text messages a day, or 1,500 texts a month, and one in three send more than 100 texts a day, or more than 3,000 texts a month.

• 15% of teens who are texters send more than 200 texts a day, or more than 6,000 texts a month.

• Boys typically send and receive 30 texts a day; girls typically send and receive 80 messages per day.

• Teen texters ages 12-13 typically send and receive 20 texts a day.

• 14-17 year-old texters typically send and receive 60 text messages a day.

• Older girls who text are the most active, with 14-17 year-old girls typically sending 100 or more messages a day or more than 3,000 texts a month.

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Statistics Came From:

www.pewresearch.org