Today's Children – A Lost Generation

Abstract

Rolfe F. Westendorf’s essay, Today’s Children—A Lost Generation (1980s), delivers a sobering critique of societal trends undermining the well-being and moral formation of children. Westendorf argues that contemporary culture has inflicted unprecedented harm through nine interrelated failures: saddling future generations with crushing national debt; legalizing abortion, thereby diminishing the intrinsic worth of life; prioritizing material wealth over parental presence; normalizing single parenthood; elevating women’s rights without safeguarding children’s needs; trivializing sex as entertainment; enabling media hypocrisy that glamorizes destructive behaviors; eliminating meaningful labor that fosters responsibility; and compounding these factors simultaneously. Though children enjoy material abundance and educational opportunities, Westendorf contends they are spiritually impoverished and ill-prepared for adulthood, a reality reflected in rising social dysfunction. He calls for urgent corrective measures: strengthening family ministries within congregations, leveraging media to champion biblical values, modeling sacrificial love and discipline in homes, and above all, preaching Law and Gospel as the ultimate remedy. While acknowledging that political solutions are unlikely, Westendorf insists that Christian families and churches must resist cultural decay and reaffirm the sanctity of life, marriage, and parental responsibility. Abstract prepared by Microsoft Copilot (GPT‑4).