Violence
Youth experience varying forms and degrees of violence and in different environments. Some experience violence at alarming rates and some less frequently. Some experience violence because of real or perceived characteristics. In whatever form against youth, violence leaves a negative and lasting effect. There is much opportunity for all fields to mitigate the experience and effects that violence, in all its forms, has on youth.
Statistics
• Nationwide, the prevalence of having been in a physical fight was higher among 9th grade female (37.2%) than 10th grade female (27.6%), 11th grade female (25.0%), and 12th grade female (20.3%) students. (Centers for Disease Control, Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance—2005)
• In 2005, 9.2% of students nationwide had been hit, slapped, or physically hurt on purpose by their boyfriend or girlfriend (i.e., dating violence). Overall, the prevalence of dating violence was higher among black female (12.0%) than white female (8.5%) and Hispanic female (9.0%) high school students. (Centers for Disease Control, Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance—2005)
• In 2005, while the overall percentage of students reporting being victims of hate speech is not significantly different for females and males, females were more likely to report being targets of hate-related words based on gender discrimination than were males (3% compared with 1%). However, males were more likely to report being targets of hate-related words based on race discrimination compared with females (5% compared with 4%). (ChildTrends.org, Child and Youth Indicators Databank: Victims of Hate Speech)
• Two-thirds (65%) of LGBT teens report that they have been verbally or physically harassed or assaulted during the past year because of their perceived or actual appearance, gender, sexual orientation, race/ethnicity, disability, or religion. (Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network, From Teasing to Torment: A Survey of Students and Teachers, 2005)
• In 2005, female high school students were more than twice as likely as their male peers to report being physically forced to have intercourse (11% compared with 4%). Eight percent of all students in grades 9 through 12 reported having been raped at some time in their lives. (ChildTrends.org, Child and Youth Indicators Databank: Adolescents Who Have Ever Been Raped)
• Female teens aged 12 to 17 are more likely than males to be victims of physical abuse in the home though the opposite is true for children under the age of eight. (ChildTrends Databank: CrossCurrents: Violence in the Lives of Children, August 2003)
• By the time they are in high school, one in ten females reports that she has been raped in her lifetime, compared with one in 20 males. (ChildTrends Databank, CrossCurrents: Violence in the Lives of Children, August 2003)
• An estimated 1,600 persons under age 18 were murdered in the U.S. in 2002—10% of all persons murdered that year. About one-third (36%) of these juvenile murder victims were female. About 4 in 10 (39%) of these victims were under age 6, 1 in 10 (10%) were ages 6–11, 1 in 10 (8%) were ages 12–14, and 4 in 10 (43%) were ages 15–17. (Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Juvenile Victims and Offenders: 2006 National Report)
• Among kidnap victims under age 6 known to law enforcement, the numbers of male and female victims were essentially equal. For victims ages 12 to 17, the ratio was almost three female victims for each male victim. For victims ages 25–34, the ratio was almost 4 to 1. (Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Juvenile Victims and Offenders: 2006 National Report)
• About two-thirds of female victims ages 15–17 were kidnapped by an acquaintance, and one-quarter by a stranger. (Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Juvenile Victims and Offenders: 2006 National Report)
• Compared to other students their age, girls' playing violent video games differs from boys' playing: 52% of tween females (8- to 12-year-olds) and 38% of teen females (13- to 18-year-olds) never play violent video games versus 11% of tween boys and 10% of teen boys. (Harris Interactive, Trends and Tudes: Video Gaming: General and Pathological Use, March 2007)
• One in four girls was involved in physical fights. (OJJDP, Juvenile Victims and Offenders: 2006 National Report)
• Half (51.4%) of LGBT students reported having had their property, such as their car, clothing or books stolen or deliberately damaged at school in the past year with about a tenth (11.3%) reporting that it happened frequently or often. (Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network, The 2005 National School Climate, 2005)
