I was sad yet not surprised when I read the U.S. dropped from the 15th happiest country in the world to the 23rd in the latest World Happiness Report. Moreover, the report found younger people (aged 15-24) were unhappier than older people. Youth is a time of hope, vitality, possibility, friendship, and first love. Meanwhile, happiness increased for people of every age in Central and Eastern Europe. What has caused U.S. youth to have record low life evaluations?

One of the reasons is due to rising child abuse. I wrote about it in 2016. Sadly, part of that escalation has been part of the opioid epidemic and other addiction problems. In 2017, I pointed out in this post that drug overdoses were the leading cause of death in people under 50. Six years before that, I wrote about what children actually need in childrearing. Yet that post, while important, was not popular.

Over time, this paints a picture that is difficult to comprehend. Child abuse, child maltreatment, and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have been escalating.

Childhood in America has gotten worse. Not........

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