b'STATE OF CHILD DISCIPLESHIP REPORT 24When you reach a certain age, you find yourself reminiscing, lamenting orof respondents: parents, pastors and childrens ministry volunteers/leaders. braggingdepending on your audiencemore than you ever imaginedThis State of Child Discipleship Report shares the responses we received and you would about back in my day. You regale your kids with stories of thethe implications for the Church and Home. Most importantly, it sheds light patience required to dial a number on a rotary phone or wait your turn foron the steps we can take together to provide our children an anchor to hold the family landline, or how you walked to school uphill both ways, barefootfast to, no matter where cultural tides try to take them.in the snow. Why do we say steps we can take together?Digbackanothergenerationortwo;conditionsweretangiblyharsher.Data like what we have gathered from the State of Child Discipleship Survey The grim desperation so many in the U.S. experienced during the Greatreveals a lot. Our team learns more from it each time we dig through the Depression, World War II and Vietnam stand outsurely to those who livedresults. But the standout takeaway is this: Churches and parents are more it and even to those of us who didntas some of the most challengingaligned than we might have thought. Youre concerned about the same circumstances a person could face. things. You want the same outcomes for your kids. Yet when parents and child discipleship leaders were asked if kidsHere is where you line up:today have it harder than previous generations, the overwhelming majority said, Yes.Parents and Childrens Ministry Directors/Pastors agree: %Todays kids have it harder than previous generations.Despite so-called advances in technologyin fact, in large part because of themwe have a generation growing up with nicknames like Screenagers,Do you think todays kids have it harderGeneration Glass and, if youve read the recent bestseller by Jonathan Haidt,than previous generations?another moniker: The Anxious Generation. 1 100%90%Where previous generations battled external foes like collapsed economies80% 84 %and enemy armies, our children face threats not over there as the old81 %70%song says but in our homes, our pockets and our minds. The perils are now coming from within us; were a generation surrounded by technology and60%social media, plagued with worry that grows into anxiety and depression.50%Children need help and, whats more, they often know they need it. Its up to40%us to name that very present help and to do our very best to provide it in our30%churches and our homes (Psalm 46:1).20%19 % 16 %10%As a nonprofit organization focused on the biblical discipleship of children, Awana conducted the State of Child Discipleship Survey in July 2024 to learn Parent/ Childrens Ministry Director/how children, parents and church leaders impact a childs faith and, ultimately,Guardian Pastor or ChildrensMinistry Volunteerhow we can all work together to give the youngest generation among us a firm foundation in Jesus. We asked dozens of questionsincluding the oneNo Yesthat elicited the kids today have it harder responseto three categories 8 9'