GH:
You referenced the substance abuse issue. It triggered a thought, I share it here.
Over the past many years, we have read reams of articles and heard many hours of lectures and speeches addressing the problem of OTD, formerly known as at-risk kids, or kids in the parsha. A huge percentage tried to identify the most universal factor involved as a cause so that we can direct our resources. We heard the “bad friends”, the technology, abuse, unstable family, single parent family, and more. And there is at least anecdotal data to support correlation between such issues and children who become “OTD”.
However, for anyone with the bits of education about science and statistics, correlation does not prove causality, and inferring that is a mistake. Does drug abuse cause OTD? Do access to a cell phone, smartphone, computer, social media and the like cause OTD? Many believe there is a true causal relationship. I disagree. In all those I have known (large numbers), and one can query any of the askanim and professionals that deal with these kids, the connection is usually the other direction. The kid that struggles with the issues of emunoh, the lack of cheishek for Torah and mitzvos, the feelings of abandonment and rejection, etc. will look elsewhere for solace. They find the welcoming arms of a spectrum of hedonistic drives, the excitement, the thrills of risk taking, the social connections that appear more real than the ones that failed them, etc. The cell phones, movies, and social media were not the first steps out of the fold. Surely these factors assist the outward trajectory but they are not the original cause.
We need to look inward at ourselves to see where we need to make Torah and mitzvos beautiful for ourselves and families (and talmidim) so that we attract them to a Yiddishkeit they will enjoy.