what makes my heart break...

i woke up this morning sad and hurting...all i could think about were students i've known and students i have yet to meet...i think about how with each generation these kids are being forced into adulthood earlier and earlier...i think about all the broken homes and broken hearts...how the trend is less and less focused on families and more focused on self...how do i take care of myself? what's most important for me? and so on and so on...with each passing generation students are faced with harder and unbelievable issues...with each generation students seem to neglected more and more...with each generation the attitude of students becomes more and more apethetic...being a kid and being excited for what life has to offer is being exchanged for just getting by and finding ways to numb oneself from the harsh realities of life and having to go it alone...ask a student who their support system is and you will be suprised by their answers...you will hear things like, "my friends" or "i don't have/need one" you might hear "my family or my church" but this is rare...the older generations are suppossed to be investing in these younger generations...we are suppossed to be preparing them for life...but we ignore them, reject them, are repulsed by them...there is this great divide between the younger generations and the older ones...neither really understands the other...and neither really wants to...the older feels disrespected and the younger feels rejected...this is what makes my heart break...this is what makes me sad...i heard an unbelievable statistic the other day...someone said that ever 16 minutes a teenager takes his/her own life...suicide is more prevelent amongst teenagers than any other age...again at an age where hope of life should prevail...there is nothing they feel is worth living for...they have their whole life ahead of them...yet for them that is a painful thought filled with dread...how sad is this? are we willing to help bring change? what can we do?