“Young people in the U.S. are collectively experiencing a level of distress that calls on us to act,” reads the study.

By Julia Conley  Published 213-2023 by Common Dreams

Photo: rawpixel (Public domain}

Child development experts and other advocates said Monday that new federal data regarding the struggles of adolescents in the United States should serve as an urgent call to action, as teenage girls reported facing rising levels of sexual violence as well as suicidal thoughts and depression in a survey taken by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC’s biennial Youth Risk Behavior Survey, which was given to 17,000 teenagers at public and private high schools across the U.S. in 2021, found that nearly 1 in 3 adolescent girls seriously considered suicide that year—representing an increase of 60% over the previous decade. Continue reading →