Health Status > Adolescents

VIOLENCE

Violence among adolescents is a critical public health issue in the United States. In 2003, homicide was the second leading cause of death among persons ages 15 to 24 years.
The 2003 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance (YRBS) asks adolescents about their exposure to violence both in general and on school property. The 1993 survey found that 17.1 percent of high school students had carried a weapon (such as a gun, knife, or club) at some point during the 30 days preceding the survey. Males were four times as likely as females to carry a weapon (26.9 versus 6.7 percent); however, there was little difference among grades or racial and ethnic groups in likelihood of carrying weapons. Just over 6 percent of students admitted to carrying a gun in the preceding 30 days, and males were more than six times as likely as females to do so. Thirty percent of students had been in a physical fight at least once in the 12 months preceding the survey, and 4.2 percent had been injured in such a fight.

According to the YRBS, violence reaches high school students during school time. In 2003, over 6 percent of students carried a weapon on school property on at least one of the preceding 30 days. Older students were slightly more likely than ninth graders to do so. Over 9 percent of students were threatened or injured with a weapon on school property in the preceding 30 days, a rate that consistently declined with increased grade level. Almost 13 percent of high school students had engaged in a fight on school property in the preceding 12 months, over 5 percent of students missed school on at least one of the 30 preceding days because of safety concerns.

> Line Chart: High School Students Who Carried a Weapon in the Past 30 Days, by Sex and Race/Ethnicity: 1993-2003

> Line Chart: High School Students Threatened or Injured with a Weapon on School Property in Past 12 Months, by Race/Ethnicity: 1993-2003