“There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.”
–Nelson Mandela
Children Are Victims of Gun Violence
Young people are victims of gun violence at higher rates than older Americans. Every 24 minutes a child or teen dies or is injured from a gun and getting shot is the leading cause of death for Black children in the U.S. On average, nine children and teens are killed by guns every day in our country. In other words, on average, every three days more children are killed than at the Sandy Hook school shooting. [1] and [2]
School Shootings Are on the Rise
In any case, school shootings are indeed on the rise. In a Study of Active Shooter Incidents in the United States between 2000 and 2018, the FBI identified primary locations where the public was most at risk during an active shooter incident. They found that educational environments were the second-largest location category after commerce[2]. In fact, since the December 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, there have been at least 190 school shootings in America — an average of nearly one a week[3].
Guns Escalate Confrontations
Young people also commit violent gun crimes in high numbers. With easy access to guns, confrontations between young people that might otherwise end in a fistfight all too frequently end in fatalities. In 2011, 7.4% of high school students in 2011 reported being threatened or harmed with a weapon on school grounds, and 5.4% reported carrying a weapon on school property on at least one day [4].
Gun Violence Has a Profound Psychological Effect on Children
Gun violence can harm children not just physically, but emotionally as well. Studies have shown that children and young people exposed to gun violence experience lasting emotional scars. Some children develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which can affect brain development. Others experience psychological effects, including anger, withdrawal, and desensitization to violence[5].
These psychological effects can contribute to a continuing cycle of violence, also facilitated by easy access to guns.
Comparisons Put Numbers in Perspective
In 2010, 15,576 children and teenagers were injured by firearms — three times more than the number of U.S. soldiers injured in the war in Afghanistan.[6] Nationally, guns still kill twice as many children and young people than cancer, five times as many as heart disease and 15 times more than infection[7].
Fast Facts:
Resources
Children’s Defense Fund: More Truths About Guns in America
New England Journal of Medicine: Preventing Gun Deaths in Children.
FBI: An interactive Map of Active Shooter Incidents in the United States Between 2000 and 2018
Sources
[1] Children’s Defense Fund fact sheet. Accessed July 29, 2014. https://www.childrensdefense.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/2014-SOAC_gun-violence.pdf
[2] Children's Defense Fund: Protect Children, Not Guns 2019
[3] Blair, J. Pete, and Schweit, Katherine W. (2014). A Study of Active Shooter Incidents, 2000 – 2013. Texas State University and Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington D.C. 2014. Updated list for 2000-2018
[4] http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/school_violence_fact_sheet-a.pdf
[5] James Garbarino, Catherine P. Bradshaw, and Joseph A. Vorrasi, “Mitigating the Effects of Gun Violence on Children and Youth” The Trustees of Princeton University. The Future of Children Journal Issue: Children, Youth, and Gun Violence Volume 12 Number 2 Summer/Fall 2002. Accessed February 4, 2015.
[6] Judith S. Palfrey, M.D., and Sean Palfrey, M.D., “Preventing Gun Deaths in Children” New England Journal of Medicine 368 (2013): 401-403, accessed February 3, 2015, doi: 10.1056/NEJMp1215606
Young people are victims of gun violence at higher rates than older Americans. Every 24 minutes a child or teen dies or is injured from a gun and getting shot is the leading cause of death for Black children in the U.S. On average, nine children and teens are killed by guns every day in our country. In other words, on average, every three days more children are killed than at the Sandy Hook school shooting. [1] and [2]
School Shootings Are on the Rise
In any case, school shootings are indeed on the rise. In a Study of Active Shooter Incidents in the United States between 2000 and 2018, the FBI identified primary locations where the public was most at risk during an active shooter incident. They found that educational environments were the second-largest location category after commerce[2]. In fact, since the December 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, there have been at least 190 school shootings in America — an average of nearly one a week[3].
Guns Escalate Confrontations
Young people also commit violent gun crimes in high numbers. With easy access to guns, confrontations between young people that might otherwise end in a fistfight all too frequently end in fatalities. In 2011, 7.4% of high school students in 2011 reported being threatened or harmed with a weapon on school grounds, and 5.4% reported carrying a weapon on school property on at least one day [4].
Gun Violence Has a Profound Psychological Effect on Children
Gun violence can harm children not just physically, but emotionally as well. Studies have shown that children and young people exposed to gun violence experience lasting emotional scars. Some children develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which can affect brain development. Others experience psychological effects, including anger, withdrawal, and desensitization to violence[5].
These psychological effects can contribute to a continuing cycle of violence, also facilitated by easy access to guns.
Comparisons Put Numbers in Perspective
In 2010, 15,576 children and teenagers were injured by firearms — three times more than the number of U.S. soldiers injured in the war in Afghanistan.[6] Nationally, guns still kill twice as many children and young people than cancer, five times as many as heart disease and 15 times more than infection[7].
Fast Facts:
- On average, every 30 minutes a child or teen dies or is injured from a gun.
- U.S. children and teens are 17 times more likely to die from a gun than their peers in 25 other high-income countries combined[6].
- More children and teens die from guns every three days than died in the Newtown massacre.
- Guns killed more preschoolers in one year than they did law enforcement officers in the line of duty.
Resources
Children’s Defense Fund: More Truths About Guns in America
New England Journal of Medicine: Preventing Gun Deaths in Children.
FBI: An interactive Map of Active Shooter Incidents in the United States Between 2000 and 2018
Sources
[1] Children’s Defense Fund fact sheet. Accessed July 29, 2014. https://www.childrensdefense.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/2014-SOAC_gun-violence.pdf
[2] Children's Defense Fund: Protect Children, Not Guns 2019
[3] Blair, J. Pete, and Schweit, Katherine W. (2014). A Study of Active Shooter Incidents, 2000 – 2013. Texas State University and Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington D.C. 2014. Updated list for 2000-2018
[4] http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/school_violence_fact_sheet-a.pdf
[5] James Garbarino, Catherine P. Bradshaw, and Joseph A. Vorrasi, “Mitigating the Effects of Gun Violence on Children and Youth” The Trustees of Princeton University. The Future of Children Journal Issue: Children, Youth, and Gun Violence Volume 12 Number 2 Summer/Fall 2002. Accessed February 4, 2015.
[6] Judith S. Palfrey, M.D., and Sean Palfrey, M.D., “Preventing Gun Deaths in Children” New England Journal of Medicine 368 (2013): 401-403, accessed February 3, 2015, doi: 10.1056/NEJMp1215606