When Kids Hurt

Help for Adults Navigating the Adolescent Maze

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About

What's really going on in the hidden world of today's teenagers?

To get below the surface, Chap Clark spent a year in a high school and interviewed dozens of students about everything from their families and social lives to their loneliness and insecurity. An alarming picture emerged: adults have abandoned kids to navigate the ever-lengthening and ever more difficult transition to adulthood on their own, and the results are devastating. Unable to cope with the pressures of expectations and hurt of abandonment, teenagers retreat to their own world of youth culture to survive, and few adults care enough to engage them there.

Here Clark and Rabey sum up the provocative research, which was detailed in Clark's bestselling book Hurt, and lay out practical ways caring adults can have a profound impact on teens. This book is an essential guide for youth pastors and volunteer leaders, educators, counselors, parents, and all adults seeking to reach out to today's adolescents.

Endorsements

"It's not easy keeping up with today's adolescent culture, but Clark and Rabey do a wonderful job of getting us all up to speed. This new version of Clark's groundbreaking work with teenagers is must reading for parents and youth workers alike."--Wayne Rice, cofounder, Youth Specialties

"Chap Clark helped pop the lid of realism when he wrote Hurt. Now, Chap and Steve have done us all a huge favor--parents and practitioners alike--by taking us deeper into the reality of adolescent brokenness while providing us with practical suggestions on how to move toward a 'fix.' I believe that When Kids Hurt is a valuable resource to realistically equip us to introduce hurting kids to the healing and hope of the kingdom."--Walt Mueller, president, Center for Parent/Youth Understanding

"This book helps adults get inside the mind and life of adolescents like no other book. Chap Clark is one of America's foremost authorities on this subject. His insight and wisdom is invaluable."--Jim Burns, president, HomeWord, author of The Purity Code and Teaching Your Children Healthy Sexuality

"Chap Clark and Steve Rabey have captured the pain of adolescents better than anyone I know. The first time I read this book, I couldn't put it down. Every time I flip through its pages, I learn something new and important about parenting and ministry."--Kara Powell, executive director, Fuller Youth Institute

The Authors

  1. Chap Clark

    Chap Clark

    Chap Clark (PhD, University of Denver), one of today's leading voices in youth and young adult ministry, is senior pastor at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Newport Beach, California. He is also president of ParenTeen, works closely with Young...

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  2. Steve Rabey

    Steve Rabey

    Steve Rabey is an award-winning writer and editor who has authored or collaborated on over twenty books. He is currently the managing editor of Youthworker Journal.

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Reviews

"In When Kids Hurt, authors Clark and Rabey sum up the provocative research, which was detailed in Clark's bestselling book Hurt, and lay out practical ways caring adults can have a profound impact on teens. This book is an essential guide for youth pastors and volunteer leaders, educators, counselors, parents, and all adults seeking to reach out to today's adolescents."--Youth and Christian Education