George Barna in the December 1999 issue of the "Barna Report" wrote:

"Based on a nationwide representative sampling of more than 4,200 young people and adults, the survey data shows that people from ages 5 through 13 have a 33 percent probability of accepting Christ as their Savior. Young people from the ages of 14 through 18 have just a four percent likelihood of doing so, while adults (ages 19 through death) have only a six percent probability of making that choice". This information is consistent with other Barna studies over the years, which have shown the greatest majority of Christians accept Jesus Christ as their Savior before they reach the age of 18...and, in fact, the years between the ages of 8 and 12 are when a majority of Christians make their decision to follow Christ.

"...The study clearly demonstrates that the greatest evangelistic window currently available is among young children".

Appointed by U.S. Senate Majority Leader, Trent Lott, Mr. Maginnis serves on the Parents Advisory Council on Drug Abuse in the U.S.

Footnote numbers refer to references in his original message, which may viewed in its entirety at www.familyresearchcouncil.org. The following quoted excerpts cite information about pre-adolescents. Researches he drew upon are in brackets.

Suicide

• "Among children aged 14 and younger, suicide has risen 75 percent over the past decade." [12. Michael D. Resnick, et al, "Protecting Adolescents from Harm," JAMA 278, No. 10 (September 10, 1997.]

Broken Families

• "Each year, about 1 million children experience the divorce of their parents, and 1.25 million are born out of wedlock."

• "In 1950, for every 100 children born, 12 entered a broken family. Today, for every 100 children born, 60 will enter a broken family. In other words, the proportion of children entering broken families has more than quadrupled since 1950. [24] Each year, about 1 million children experience the divorce of their parents, and 1.25 million are born out of wedlock." [24. Patrick F. Fagan, "The Breakdown of the Family," Issues '98: The Candidate's Briefing Book; Washington, D.C.: The Heritage Foundation, 1998.]

• "Divorce is the second major cause of single-parent families, and Americans divorce at the highest rate of all nations of the world. The number of children living with single divorced parents continues to rise; in 1997, the number was 8.1 percent, up from 7.5 percent in 1993." [27. Fagan, Ibid.]

• "Tonight, at least 28 percent of American children will go to sleep in a fatherless home. Worse, at least 60 percent of black American children are living apart from their biological fathers." [28. "Statistical Abstract of the United States: 1998," op.cit., p. 69.]

• "The number of children living apart from their dads had climbed from 5.1 million in 1960 to 16.9 million in 1996." [29. "Father Facts," The National Foundation Initiative, undated, Gaithersburg, Md., p. 15, quoted in "The Green Book," House Committee on Ways and Means, 105th Congress, 1998, Table G-5.]

• "Seventy-two percent of adolescent murderers grew up without their fathers." [32. M. Anne Hill and June O'Neill, Underclass Behaviors in the United States: Measurement and Analysis of Determinants (New York: City University of New York, 1993).]

Abuse

• "Children are six times more likely to be abused in blended (divorced and remarried) families than in traditional, intact, married families." [41. Fagan, op. cit.]

• "Abuse is 20 times more likely in families where the natural parents cohabit." [43. Ibid.]

• "Abuse is 33 times more likely when the mother cohabits with a boyfriend." [44. Ibid.]

• "Fatherless children are five times more likely to live in poverty than children living with both parents." [47. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Center for Health Statistics, Survey on Child Health (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1993).

• "Parents today spend roughly 40 percent, or 10-12 hours per week, less time with their children than did parents a generation ago." [53. Keith Epstein, "How We Countered the 'Family-Time Famine,'" The Washington Post, April 11, 1994.]