These Staggering Statistics And Charts Reveal How Deeply Troubled Our Teen Girls Really Are

The new Report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) uncovered extremely high levels of depression, suicidal thoughts, substance use, and violence experienced by teen girls — and even higher levels for kids who identify as “LGBQ+”.

The report, which comprises data collected from the fall of 2021, is our first glimpse of the CDC Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance findings since the start of COVID lockdowns. Though these numbers were already on a troubling trend prior to lockdowns, it appears the lockdowns and other factors (we’ll get into later) kicked the crisis into high gear. 

By the Numbers Teen Girls

Nearly 3 in 5 high school girls surveyed — or a shocking 57% — reported feelings of persistent sadness or hopelessness, which is a 60% increase over the past decade.

Source: CDC

Another 30% of teen girls said they’ve seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year, an 11-point increase since 2011, when the rate was at 19%. This is a comparison: The suicide rate for boys who answered the same question in 2011 was 14%. That’s about half the number found for girls. 

Source: CDC

On to sexual violence: More than 1 in 10 teen girls surveyed said they’ve ever been forced to have sex, a 27% jump from just 2019 and the first increase the CDC has seen since monitoring the metric. Nearly 1 in 5 teen girls said they’ve experienced sexual violence over just the past year, that’s a 20% increase from 2017.

Source: CDC

LGBQ+

And if you think those numbers are bad, let’s take a look at The teen students who identify as “LGBQ+”. (The CDC dropped the transgender — the “t” — from the acronym because the agency said it never specifically asked about “gender identity.”)

Nearly 70% of these students said they suffer persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness — that’s just about double the teens who identify as heterosexual. And almost half said they’ve seriously considered attempting suicide, with about 1 in 4 actually attempting suicide.

Source: CDC

CDC ‘Strategies’ 

The CDC suggested school intervention, citing American children’s daily time spent in the classroom. The CDC suggested something called “school connectedness,” which it defined as an environment where students feel that adults and peers in the school care about their learning as well as them as individuals.

Ironically, and almost unbelievable, the agency also recommended additional LGBTQ clubs. “quality health education” that’s “LGBTQ+ inclusive” Focuses and information “sexual consent.” Or, in other words: More sexual education.

Other Factors

It’s unclear if the CDC will have more recommendations in the future, but noticeably absent from the agency’s listed strategies was anything about the mainstreaming of gender confusion (wApart from encouraging more of it, ell), social media use, or the pervasive nature of pornography. 

Since 2010, when social media platforms really expanded, young girls have seen their rates of anxiety, depression, and self-harm rise. Research shows. One, there are places like Instagram and Facebook where girls compare their lives. “likes” Photos to others can magnify body image problems and other insecurities.

And then there’s easy access to pornography, which is no doubt informing the extremely young on sex in the worst ways.

Studies have shown that kids as young as elementary school are being exposed to this adult content, with an estimated 15% of kids being exposed before they’re even 10 years old. And of the teens who watch porn on a regular basis, an estimated 83% of them have viewed porn that depicts rape and other violence, which is likely tied to the spike in sexual violence experienced by young girls. 

The numbers make it look really grim. All our young people, and until we get serious about what’s really causing these problems, we can expect these trends to continue.

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is available for anyone who needs help or is in crisis. It can be reached 24/7 at 1-800-273-8255

*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases