Role of black church in working with black adolescents Essay Example for Free

Role of black church in working with black adolescents Essay Black churches provide family-oriented community outreach programs, which have been studied during the Black Church Family Project. Programming for youth development has been reflected in the survey data, which has been discussed in this paper. The two northern regions have been selected for this project. Frightening dangers are being confronted by the contemporary American adolescents, and therefore, it has been a timely issue. An increment has been observed in the usage of the concept of being at risk for the teenagers. In this regard, an age cohort is described in this concept, by which, the developmental movement is confronted with many negative forces towards the adulthood. The satire and irony is that the healthiest period of the lives of people is usually considered the period of adolescence. Unlike their predecessors, social illnesses are harming today’s adolescents, as untreated and untreatable diseases were harming and suffering their predecessors in the past. A sense of optimism might be provided by this concept, as prevention and intervention is possible for such social ills in today’s world. Yet, increment has been observed in the social problems, by which, today’s adolescents are being plagued. Therefore, medical and technological advances have been able to derive success of physical health, but were not able to prevent adolescents from these harmful social ills. Especially, minority youth has been influenced and affected destructively by these social ills due to various unpleasant circumstances in their lives. Following are some of the social problems that are being confronted by today’s adolescents: Poverty and a truncated educational and occupational future might be carried out by adolescent pregnancy and out-of-wedlock births, which are some of the negative consequences of social ills. A life-defining event is the outcome of these pregnancies, and the highest rate of these pregnancies has been found in the American Black citizens with low-income. â€Å"The black church can play a significant role in literacy development through its programs and activities in the black community if consideration is given in program design to the people served and to the plural meanings of the term literacy† (1999, 27-31) These events have been subscripted into the issues of pre and postnatal care, maternal, and infant mortality rates, as well as, adolescent parenthood. The generally ignored teenage father has also been included in these events. AIDS is another harmful concern, which brings diseases that can be transmitted sexually. Adolescent sexual activities and contraceptive usage stem all these diseases. In addition, peer pressure issues and biological changes have also been related with these diseases. Now, exposure has been given to adults and children emotionally, physically, and mentally. Sexual neglect and abuse of children have brought diverse affects on the teenagers. Adolescents are deprived of parental support in dysfunctional families. In the result, positive male role models are found to be lacking in these families, which affect the lives of many teenagers, especially black adolescents. Another serious problem of the youth has become the usage of alcohol, cigarettes, and drugs, which is often termed as substance abuse. Black youths are being afflicted by accidental injuries, psychoses, and physical disorders in their lives. Some of these disorders are obesity, thyroid problems, etc. Additional concerns of today’s adolescent are depression and suicide, which are increasing day by day. Adolescents are found to be involving in crime, homicide, and delinquency increasingly. Educational advancement is being delayed, problems are increasing in behavior and learning attitude of the adolescents, and high schools are indicating increment in the dropping out of the adolescents. In the result, it is creating limited career aspirations and occupational range for these adolescents, which tend them to involve in abovementioned social ills for their living. The situation for minority youth has been compounded by the discipline of harsher school. The threat of homelessness is increasing, while unemployment and underemployment rates are increasing significantly due to less education. African-American adolescents and youth are among the pronounced ones, who are confronting some of these negative trends. Over the past two decades, different researches have indicated the abovementioned negative impacts, which should be reduced and eliminated.