My Perspective: The War On Our Youth—Youth Violence Statistics

There’s a major problem in America and it is the whole issue of the war on our youth. There’s a war brewing in the streets and many people are starting to take notice but this isn’t anything new. Every couple of years, many community groups, civic activists and church leaders try to take aim on youth violence once the numbers begin to spike up. Parents worry about nothing more than the safety of their children. So many parents wonder will their child(ren) make the right decisions in terms of will they hang out with the right crowd? Youth are under attack because gangs are trying to lure them and sadly enough violence is everywhere–innocent children gunned down in the streets, even in their own homes. Youth are attacked at school, at the bus stop, on the bus and even walking home from school. This is an issue that many youth face and many parents across the nation face. So the relief is that no youth is alone in this and no parent is alone in trying to protect their youth from the violence in the streets. Still youth are not only the victims, some are perpetrators, too.

Look at some of these numbers. The Centers for Disease Control just released new data showing that, in 2006, nearly six thousand young people between the ages of 10 and 24 were murdered. In 2007, nearly one in five high school students polled admitted to carrying a weapon in the past thirty days. Youth violence results in considerable physical, emotional, social, and economic consequences are startling. Although rates of youth homicide have declined substantially during recent years, much work remains in reducing this public health burden. Homicide is the second leading cause of death among youth aged 10–24 years in the United States. Violence is also a major cause of nonfatal injuries among youth. In 2006, a total of 720,371 young people aged 10–24 years were treated in emergency departments for nonfatal injuries sustained from assaults. No state is immune to the devastating impact of youth violence.

There are many trends and patterns in youth violence. That’s why the website safeyouth.org goal is to describe trends and patterns in youth violence while allowing users to find data on national and state-specific trends in youth homicide rates. The website pages include information on the leading causes of death and homicide rates by age, sex and race/ethnicity. National data on non-fatal assault-related injury rates and arrests rates are also provided. The data can be used by public health officials, researchers, practitioners and the public to understand and describe the need for prevention programs and policies that address risk and protective factors for youth violence, including policies and programs aimed at promoting pro-social behavior, strengthening families, and creating communities in which youth are safe from violence.

Still when it comes to youth violence, the numbers only tell half the story. Nonetheless as we track youth violence from the early 90s until now this is what stands out. In 1999, 1,763 youth under 18 years old were arrested for homicide in the United States, a decline from 4,330 in 1993, the year youth homicide arrests peaked.1 Homicides committed by youth under 18 years old accounted for 10.1 percent of all homicides in 1999. The juvenile arrest rate for violent crime in 1999 was 36 percent below its peak in 1994. Juveniles accounted for 17 percent of all arrests and 16 percent of all violent crime arrests in 1999, including 14 percent of aggravated assault arrests, 17 percent of forcible rape arrests, and 24 percent of weapons arrests in 1999. More than 840,500 gang members were estimated to be active in the United States in 1999. This number represents an 8 percent increase from 1998, countering the decline from 1996 to 1998 and approaching the estimated high of nearly 846,500 members in 1996. During the 1998 to 1999 school year, a total of 34 school-aged children were murdered in or around school grounds or on the way to and from school. Less than 1 percent of all homicides among school-aged children (5-19 years of age) occur in or around school grounds or on the way to and from school.

In 1998, slightly less than 1 percent of students were victims of serious violent crimes while at school or going to and from school. During the 1996 to 1997 school year, 43 percent of public schools reported no violent crimes, and only 10 percent reported any serious violent crimes. In 1933, 75% of deaths among youth between 15 and 19 stemmed from natural causes. Sixty years later, in 1993, 80% came from homicide and unintentional injury and in 2003 nearly 90% came from homicide and unintentional injury. Among boys, 42% of high schoolers and 32% of middle schoolers believe it is okay to hit or threaten a person who makes them angry. One in five (20%) of the girls agrees according to the Josephson Institute, 2006 Report Card on the Ethics of American Youth. An even higher percentage resorts to violence: 88% of all boys and over 76% of girls surveyed said they hit someone in the past 12 months because they were angry. In study after study, about 30-40 percent of boys and 15-30 percent of girls’ reports having committed a serious violent offense by age 17 [Youth and Violence: A Report of the Surgeon General, January 2001]. In 2004, 5,292 young people ages 10 to 24 were murdered -- an average of 15 each day [Youth Violence Facts at a Glance, Summer 2007, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)]

A quarter (25%) of high school boys and 12% of middle school males took a weapon to school at least once in the past year [Josephson Institute, 2006 Report Card on the Ethics of American Youth]. In the United States, almost 16 million adolescents -- including 70% to 95% of children in our inner cities -- have witnessed some form of violent assault, including robbery, stabbing, shooting, murder, or domestic abuse [AMA, Youth and Violence]. Persons under the age of 25 accounted for nearly 50 percent of those arrested for murder and 62 percent of those arrested for robbery in 2005 [Youth Violence Facts at a Glance, Summer 2007, CDC]. While nearly 60 percent of boys who researchers classified as bullies in grades six through nine were convicted of at least one crime by the age of 24. Even more dramatic, 40 percent of them had three or more convictions by age 24 ["Bullying Prevention is Crime Prevention," Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, 2003]. Though gun use and lethal violence among young people has declined since the peak year of 1993, nonfatal violence has not [Youth and Violence: A Report of the Surgeon General].

The proportion of students injured by a weapon at school has not declined since 1993 [Youth and Violence: A Report of the Surgeon General]. The number of youths involved with gangs has not declined and remains near the peak levels of 1996 [Youth and Violence: A Report of the Surgeon General]. Handguns are used in 80 percent of homicides, nearly 70 percent of suicides and nearly all accidental shootings [Prevention First]. Children in adult jails commit suicide eight times as often as their counterparts in juvenile facilities. In addition, children in adult facilities are five times more likely to be sexually assaulted, and twice as likely to be beaten by jail staff [Children’s Defense Fund, 1998]. In 1992, handguns killed 33 people in Great Britain, 36 in Sweden, 97 in Switzerland, 60 in Japan, 13 in Australia, 128 in Canada, and 13,200 in the United States [Handgun Control Inc., cited in The Washington Post, 1998]. Large cities claim that 72% of their school violence is attributable in part to gang activity [National League of Cities 1994 survey of 700 U.S. cities].

Occurrences of teen violence and the consequences of teen violence are not black and white as some would want us to believe. For instance, in 2002, more than 877,700 young people ages 10 to 24 were injured from violent acts. Approximately 1 in 13 required hospitalization (CDC 2004). However that number does not take in account the causes teen violence and some of the incidence and risk factors involved in it. Homicide is the second leading cause of death among young people ages 10 to 24 overall. In this age group, it is the leading cause of death for African-Americans, the second leading cause of death for Hispanics, and the third leading cause of death for American Indians, Alaskan Natives, and Asian Pacific Islanders (Anderson and Smith 2003). In 2001, 5,486 young people ages 10 to 24 were murdered, an average of 15 each day (CDC 2004). In 2001, 79% of homicide victims ages 10 to 24 were killed with firearms (CDC 2004). In a nationwide survey, 17% of students reported carrying a weapon (e.g., gun, knife, or club) on one or more days in the 30 days preceding the survey (Grunbaum et al. 2004). Among students nationwide, 33% reported being in a physical fight one or more times in the 12 months preceding the survey (Grunbaum et al. 2004). Nationwide, 9% of students reported being hit, slapped, or physically hurt on purpose by their boyfriend or girlfriend in the 12 months prior to being surveyed (Grunbaum et al. 2004).

Now the main groups at risk for youth violence is minorities particularly those in low economic impoverished conditions preferable males in more instances. Of the 5,486 homicides reported in the 10 to 24 age group in 2001, 85% (4,659) were males and 15% (827) were females (CDC 2004). A nationwide survey found male students (41%) more likely to have been involved in a physical fight than female students (25%) in the 12 months preceding the survey (Grunbaum et al. 2004). When it comes to youth violence there are various risk factors that contribute to it that are both individual and family. Individual Factors in Teen Violence are attention deficits/hyperactivity, antisocial beliefs and attitudes , history of early aggressive behavior, involvement with drugs, alcohol, or tobacco, early involvement in general offenses, low IQ, poor behavioral control, and social cognitive or information-processing deficits . Now the family factors involved in youth violence are authoritarian childrearing attitudes, exposure to violence and family conflict, harsh, lax, or inconsistent disciplinary practices, lack of involvement in the child's life, low emotional attachment to parents or caregivers, low parental education and income, parental substance abuse and criminality, poor family functioning and poor monitoring and supervision of children

Still hope is not lost for those youth who express this because there are some protective individual factors such as intolerant attitude toward deviance, high IQ, and positive social orientation that can help youth not get involved in violence. Also there are some peer/school protective Factors such as commitment to school and Involvement in social activities that can help youth stray from violence. But this can’t be done without a strong support system in place that starts in the home and stretches to the community and the school building. The bloodshed in the street can be stopped until we try different approaches to dealing with. At the same time, this has to be a constant effort that is done year round and every year no matter how much youth violence numbers go down.

I say this because some believe you cannot stop the bloodshed. Violent behavior is human nature. Thus we as a society can only reduce it by taking away what is funding these gangs: the illegal drug trade. Legalize recreational drug use, tax it, and regulate it just like alcohol. For alcohol is no different than any other drug. As a matter of fact, it is far more dangerous than many illegal drugs. Take away the black market, and these gangs dry up virtually overnight. That is one approach that some advocates to ending youth violence propose. Yes, we will have some problems with addiction. So put them in rehab, not prison. The war on drugs has not done anything to reduce the addiction rate, because once again addictive behavior is human nature. You cannot stop human nature. The addiction rate is the same today, as it was when all drugs were legal. Judgmental Americans are the problem, not gang violence. We wish to punish those who make choices we do not like especially the religious crowd as stated by a viewer comment on the CNN Take Aim on Youth Violence chat board.

As a society we might want to do something to discourage single motherhood as well. 75% of criminals coming from single mother homes but women talk about nurturing as the end all, be all of parenting. Discipline is far more important. Bring Dad back into the family, and many of these problems with kids will disappear. Stop letting the government tell us how to raise our kids. The government is the same idiots who tell mothers are superior parents, when that is clearly not true when looking at the statistics affecting our youth. Family values are broken and while mothers have done a great job with what they have been dealt with, fatherless homes create more problems than solutions which are what we are faced with today in terms of youth violence.

The problem is systemic, and it is disheartening that many people don’t have a understanding of it. This issue of youth violence is resolved, albeit slowly, when caring citizens become involved in the lives of young people and genuinely contribute to their success. That’s community building. It is not just money – resources in the form of human ability and intellectual capacity need to be developed and harvested in those communities where youth violence is high. It is really simple to deal with this problem when you are not on the front line working with you but when you are out there you see that youth need mentors particularly male mentors in their life because they are in fatherless homes. People are hopeless if they think money is the only thing that will improve their lives because money without an education to back it up will only lead one down a path to destruction. That’s why when it comes to youth violence, the quality of life needs to improve and that starts when our youth realize that there is better out there than what they are currently seeing on a day to day basis. We have to engage our youth and expose them to a different lifestyle than the one they are currently seeing on a day to day basis.

The reason gangs appeal to youth is because youth need to feel like they are a part of “something”. Since the family structure has been torn down, they gravitate to the gangs. The gangs provide that family structure that they need. Bring the mothers home. Give the fathers good jobs so that they feel like the man. Most black men in America make less (if they have a job) than their wife. This makes for an unnatural balance in the family. The man is feeling less of a man and the woman has to take on the role of the man. When the children are not brought up in an environment that is stable, that they can count on, the result is instability in their minds. They begin to act on this instability. They are crying for help. Let’s help them by raising the minimum wage and putting more quality jobs for black men in the communities. Still that is not enough to fix this problem on youth violence but it is a start.

The problem with youth violence has a lot to do with lack of jobs and youth perceiving that even with education one may not be able to find work. This was an perception among the youth of in my community even before the recession. Selling drugs seems to be a viable means of making money for those with less options. Is there a real concern to stop the sell of drugs? Who besides our youth are profiting from it? Many of our youth are angry. They see the disparity. What about the rise in foster children whose resources run out when they age-out of the system. Also, the surge in closing down of schools in the name of charter schools without regard to how a community actually feels about it can be in some cases not a good idea. Students have to cross rival gang lines as a result of school closures which contributes to not only gang violence but youth violence. This is demeaning to those of the community. The children see this. They take up weapons and take to the streets, thinking that perhaps, they are taking control of their lives. The issues are very complex and warrant serious compassionate consideration and action.

No one can tell you that they have all the answers to the problems plaguing our youth but the perpetrators of this violence come from broken, poverty stricken homes without the presence of a father. We need not only positive male mentors and role models, but we need fathers in these communities. We live in an age when marriage and the responsibilities of having a family have been tossed aside. When one grows up in environments as harsh as those in Chicago, Detroit, L.A. etc. and have no one, particularly, a strong father, to be guided to see how a young man should behave, then we’d see this type of violence decrease. The breakdown in the family, in particular, the African-American family has led to this, and only the buildup of the family, can solve this problem.

Youth violence is a widespread problem in the United States. No matter how you look it, there are tons of ways to deal with but youth violence statistics might be down but the problem is still a huge issue in many urban communities in not just Chicago, Detroit, Baltimore, Miami, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Cleveland but it is a huge issue all across America. With about 9% of murders in the U.S. being committed by youth under 18 in 2000 and an estimated 1,561 youth under the age of 18 were arrested for homicide in 2000. It is time that we deal with youth violence more strongly than we have ever dealt with. Youth under 18 accounted for about 15% of violent crime arrests in 2001. One national survey found that for every teen arrested, at least 10 were engaged in violence that could have seriously injured or killed another person. About 1 in 3 high school students say they have been in a physical fight in the past year, and about 1 in 8 of those students required medical attention for their injuries. More than 1 in 6 students in grades 6 to 10 say they are bullied sometimes, and more than 1 in 12 say they are bullied once a week or more. Suicide is the third leading cause of death among teenagers - In 2000, 1921 young people ages 10 to 19 died by suicide in the United States. While about 1 in 11 high-school students say they have made a suicide attempt in the past year.

Just looking at numbers like that should make any of us want to get more involved in the lives of youth. Although youth violence has always been a problem in the United States, the number of deaths and serious injuries increased dramatically during the late 1980's and early 1990's, as more and more youth began to carry weapons. Since then, however, the tide has begun to turn. Between 1992 and 2001, juvenile arrests on weapons charges dropped 35%; the juvenile arrest rate for murder fell 62%, dropping to its lowest level in more than two decades; and the juvenile arrest rate for violent crimes dropped by 21%. Clearly, considerable progress has been made, but youth violence does still remain a serious problem in the United States which is why we need all hands on deck to deal with youth violence in this nation.

We need to take back not just our homes but our communities and our nation as we save the future of America. The violence in the street must continue to down but that will only happen with an all out blitz from everyone in this nation. It’s not about any particular individual but it is more about us saving our future from violence which is plaguing their lives more so than natural causes. This most change now if we are going to have a future to begin with. It is time out for not just youth violence but violence period. However we must teach the future how to be peaceful and how to resolve issues without doing physical harm to another person. This war on our youth will only be won one battle at time and there are tons of battles out there that we are fighting but youth violence is the war. Winning the other battles will help us win the war on youth which will ultimately help us as nation win the war on youth violence. So let’s work to prevent youth violence.