Nothing is more important to today’s youth than relationships. Young people live in a world that is increasingly devoid of solid, dependable relationships. They have grown up as children of divorce, starved for closeness and intimacy as the family has deteriorated. Abusive, neglectful, busy, absent, non emotional and working parents have no time for relationships. Because today’s young people have been deprived of intimacy they value it more highly.

They value relationships the most, even though they do not have the skills and ability to have true and meaningful relationships. Most teens are the children of parents who are so busy working by day to pay the bills that teen are being raised with left overs. Unable to give teens their full attention leaving them alone much of the time.  This is a generation that arrives home to an empty house, with both mom and dad working, or a single parent home where the remaining parent is having to work to survive. Often, especially in the latter situation, the young person has been forced to take on part time employment as well. Adding to significant stress on the teen to grow up too quickly.

This is also the generation that has spent every other weekend at their other parent’s home, and has seen a increase in different family relationships, such as "dad’s girlfriend", "mom’s new husband", "my step father", or "my step brother or sister". This has caused young people to be skeptical of relationships, yet still feel the need to fill the void with something else. Friends and peers become surrogate families, as a small number of dependable relationships are valued highly. Many of the characteristics below arise out of this one.

They will do anything to get loved, but they don’t know how to love properly. This affects how they behave, as they will do anything to be loved. They have become more sexually active to get love and closeness, but just end up getting used, and therefore lonelier than they were before. They are a visual generation, with TV, video, computer games, etc., yet, although sophisticated, do not know how to talk or communicate their feelings in person.  They use social networking as the new medium of connection and pooring out of feelings. They do not know how to have the very thing the want the most: a relationship. This causes problems resulting from a spiral of behaviour that leads to bad relationships that leads to bad behaviour, and so on. Their best attempts leave them empty and lonely, and loneliness is the thing they fear the most. They are desperate for relationship, even if they can only have it for a little while.

But there is still hope.  This intense desire for relationship opens the door to mentors, coaches, teachers, youth workers and yes even parents.  The most significant human relationships our teens desire is the one with mom and dad.  Regardless of family breakup or stable home, teens crave relationship with mom and dad.  There is always hope.