When Kids Hurt

What's really going on in the hidden world of today's teenagers?

To get below the surface, Chap Clark spent a year in a high school and interviewed dozens of students about everything from their families and social lives to their loneliness and insecurity. An alarming picture emerged: adults have abandoned kids to navigate the ever-lengthening and ever more difficult transition to adulthood on their own, and the results are devastating. Unable to cope with the pressures of expectations and hurt of abandonment, teenagers retreat to their own world of youth culture to survive, and few adults care enough to engage them there.

Here Clark and Rabey sum up the provocative research, which was detailed in Clark's bestselling book Hurt, and lay out practical ways caring adults can have a profound impact on teens. This book is an essential guide for youth pastors and volunteer leaders, educators, counselors, parents, and all adults seeking to reach out to today's adolescents.

Chap Clark is vice dean for the School of Theology and Regional Campuses Master's Programs and professor of Youth, Family, and Culture at Fuller Seminary; senior editor of Youthworker Journal; and the author of several books on adolescence, parenting, and youth ministry, including Hurt: Inside the World of Today's Teenagers.

Steve Rabey is an award-winning writer and editor who has authored or collaborated on over twenty books. He is currently the managing editor of Youthworker Journal.