"Sadly, our society continues to be wracked by domestic problems. Four in 10 American children go to bed without a father in the home. One-third of teens have been physically, abused in the home. One-fourth of all Americans say that drinking is a problem in their home and half of all marriages this year will end in divorce."
"Surveys reveal an unprecedented desire for religious and spiritual growth among people in all walks of life and in every region of the nation. There is an intense searching for spiritual moorings, a hunger for God. It is for churches to seize the moment and to direct this often vague and free-floating spirituality into a solid and lived-out faith." - George Gallup a.k.a. Gallup Surveys
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1 out of 10 fifteen year olds and younger have gone through family divorce
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58% have been involved in objectionable content on the web
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48% of high school seniors are sexually active
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By the time the average child graduates from high school, he will have watched 19,000 hours of TV including ( 200,000+ sexual acts and 1M acts of violence)
The Kauffman Foundation has found in research that “millions of children are on their own, especially during the hours between 3 and 8 P.M., prime time for young people to engage in risky behavior." (When School is Out, 2000)
The latest Missouri census data for our region shows:
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42.4% of households live with low income. Within these households 12.4% are single mother families with children under 18 years old.
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The single mother families that live under poverty range from 33% to 56% in surrounding counties.
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Our constituency education averages are: 15.6% have no G.E.D., 39.8% have graduated from high school, and 8.72% have attained a Bachelor of Science Degree.
In the local communities serviced by MOA not only is risky behavior prevalent, but the demographic studies support the enormous need for mentoring programs.
These statistics are reflected across our United States in similar and worse ways. That is one reason why MOA seeks to establish other MOA Outposts across the nation. If you are interested in other MOA Outpost opportunities please contact MOA.
