Bullying exists within an environment of other forms of violence and aggression by and toward youth:
- The U.S. child homicide rate (2.6 per 100,000 for children younger than 15 years) is five times higher than the rate of 25 other industrialized countries combined, according to the CDC.
- Suicide is the third leading cause of death for adolescents. The rate of suicide among adolescents increased 128 percent between 1960 and 2000.
- According to a 2001 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA) Report, 28 percent of the nation’s youth have participated in a serious fight either at school or at work, have taken part in a group-against-group fight, or have attacked others with the intent of seriously hurting them.
- The U.S. Department of Justice reports that juveniles are twice as likely as adults to be victims of serious violent crime and three times as likely to be victims of assault.
- In one-third of the sexual assaults reported to law enforcement, the victim is under the age of 12.
- According to a comprehensive 1995 study of the prevalence of violence among youth, approximately 8.8 million youths indicated that they had seen someone else being shot, stabbed, sexually assaulted, physically assaulted, or threatened with a weapon.
- An estimated one in eight 17-year-olds have experienced post-traumatic stress disorder at some point in their lifetimes, according to the same study cited above.
- The average child sees 16,000 murders on television by age 18. Although homicide rates have decreased, network news coverage of homicides has ballooned.
Source: SAMHSA, an Agency of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, http://pathwayscourses.samhsa.gov/
