Kids And Violence: Over 60 Percent Abused, According To Justice Department

Text From Associated Press:

WASHINGTON - Justice Department officials said Wednesday that most children in the United States are exposed to violence in their daily lives -- but a leading criminologist warned the government-sponsored survey may be lumping serious and minor incidents together.

More than 60 percent of children surveyed were exposed to violence within the past year, either directly or indirectly, according to data compiled by the department. The survey's authors defined exposure to violence as being a victim, or having witnessed violence, or learning about violence against a relative, friend, or hearing about a threat to their school or home.

That approach raised questions for some.

"What concerns me when you hear numbers like this is that in their attempt to be inclusive, which is commendable, the definition of violence becomes so broad that the results lack real meaning," said James Alan Fox, criminal justice professor at Northeastern University. "If you broaden the definition of violence so much, then most people will be included."

Nearly half of all children surveyed were assaulted at least once in the past year, and about 6 percent were victimized sexually, the survey found.

One in five of those between the ages of 14 and 17 reported they had seen a shooting.
"Those numbers are astonishing, and they are unacceptable," Attorney General Eric Holder said in Chicago, where he was meeting with local officials to discuss the disturbing beating death of a high school student by other teens.

"We simply cannot stand for an epidemic of violence that robs our youth of their childhood and perpetuates a cycle in which today's victims become tomorrow's criminals," Holder said.
Among the survey's other findings:

• Nearly one in ten children said they saw one family member assault another in the past year.
• More than one-half of the children, about 57 percent, reported having been assaulted at some point in their life.
• Thirteen percent reported having been physically bullied in the last year.

The results were based on telephone interviews of 4,549 kids and adolescents aged 17 and younger between January and May of 2008. For children ages 9 and younger, a parent or guardian answered the questions. The National Survey of Children's Exposure to Violence was sponsored by the Justice Department's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, with help from the Centers for Disease Control. It was conducted by university researchers.

The attorney general and Education Secretary Arne Duncan were in Chicago Wednesday to meet with local officials, parents, and students to discuss the vicious beating of a 16-year-old high school student whose killing last month was captured on a cell phone video.

Derrion Albert, an honor roll student at Christian Fenger Academy High School, was attacked when he got caught up in a mob of teens about six blocks from school. Video shows him curled up on the sidewalk as fellow teens kick him and hit him with splintered railroad ties. So far, four teens have been charged in his death.

Comments

[TheBlackCat]

Okay, I know that HuffPo is pretty bad with the misleading headlines, but this just takes the cake.

The title says "over 60% of kids abused" but then in the first paragraph we are told that this isn't a measurement of abuse but only EXPOSURE to violence, so that children who only heard about violence happening to someone else, not even in their home, are counted.

Now granted, that's still not a great thing, but it's a far cry from 60% being actually abused themselves.

[TheBlackCat]

oops I realized I missed the part where it says 57% of kids reported being assaulted in the past year.

However, I wonder what exactly qualifies as assault, because siblings fight physically all the time. If I had been asked this question on the phone as a teenager, I would have to answer "yes" to having been assaulted because technically that is true, I would have been hit by one of my sisters at some point in my life. But normal fighting amongs sibling is a far cry from being an abused child.

I don't necessarily reject the findings of this study, I just am curious about how the data was collected, questions asked, etc.

[Nicon]

Thanks Drug War!

If in 1933, we had decided that regulation and control were the lessons learned from Alcohol Prohibition, and a prohibition on specific drugs would be no different, i believe we would live in a drastically different world. Prohibition in the 20's gave birth to street gangs, the mob, and a wave of violence were still dealing with today. The Prohibition of narcotics has done the same thing. 21 people were killing in drug related violence in Mexico this weekend, Millions were spent this weekend ripping up Marijuana out of or National Parks, and open lands around the United States. There were surly hundreds of Drug related violent incidences around the US that we have simply grown to blind to for these incidents to make the news here.

The War on drugs has yet to keep drugs out of the hands of anyone, anywhere. Our high-school children have the best access to Marijuana they ever had, right now.

Time to start spending that money where it can do some good. Say National Health Care and Proper funding for Schools and programs like the Nurse Family Partnership. Where the 70 Billion we spend fighting Marijuana could save millions of lives rather than destroying them.

[TheBlackCat]

I agree with you that the drug war was a terrible thing, but I'm pretty sure violence in the home was MORE common before it began, not less, as child and spousal abuse were not yet illegal, or if illegal, not enforced, until pretty modern times. They were still allowed to beat you in school. My grandparents are always telling me how lucky we are because when they were kids everyone got the crap beaten out of them all the time, whether it was a teacher, principal, or parent, because that's just the way it was.

However, this article also discusses street violence, which I absolutely agree with you is due largely in part to the drug war.

[Patrick Dacre]

Perhaps there are some answers in what they see on TV, video games, and movies, eh?

Then, of course, there is Good News Too.

http://www.goodnewstogo.com

Patrick

[EllaMae]

Wow, it's a shame that there is so little discussion about this! More than half our children reported being assaulted at some point, 1/5 have witnessed a shooting? It's insane. I really do hope there is more of a dialogue about this, and more action being taken --- other than more police. Kids needs adults in their lives that can protect them, model civilized behavior, and not betray them.

[miamivalleyjournal]

How can our law enforcement system act in such a way as to prevent violence against young people?

[roald]

Don't place this on law enforcement. They are severely limited in their prevention efforts. Instead blame me, blame yourself, and blame the rest of our society that is so self-centered that we allow the poverty, racism, hopelessness, and other ills that lead to violence.