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(Taken
from the Office of Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention)
“Children
don’t grow up in isolation, their actions and values reflect not only their
upbringing at home, but also the influences, good or bad, they encounter
everyday in their own neighborhood.”
Department
of Juvenile Justice
The
following statistics were taken from the Office of Juvenile Justice &
Delinquency Prevention. These statistics represent national trends related
to juveniles across the country.
Juvenile
Population Characteristics
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In
1998, 70.2 million Americans – more than 1 in 4 were under age 18.
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In
1997, 14.1 million juveniles lived in poverty – 42% more than in 1978.
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About
3 in 10 children lived in single-parent homes in 1997.
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In
1997, almost one-half of all children living with only their mothers lived
in poverty.
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5%
of all babies born in 1996 were born to juvenile mothers.
Juvenile
Victims
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Between
1980 and 1997, nearly 38,000 juveniles were murdered in the United States.
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In
1997, about six juveniles were murdered daily.
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For
every two youth (ages 0-19) murdered in 1996, one youth committed suicide.
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In
one-third of all sexual assaults reported to law enforcement, the victim was
younger than age 12.
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The
violent victimization of juveniles is greatest between 3pm-9pm.
1 in 5 of all violent crimes with juvenile victims occurs between 3pm and
7pm on school days.
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Child
protective service agencies received reports on more than 3 million
maltreated children in 1996.
Juvenile
Offenders
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Juvenile
violence peaks in the after school hours on school days and in the evenings
on nonschool days.
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Half
of high school students who said they carried a weapon said they took that
weapon to school.
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The
increase in juvenile arrest rates since 1981 has been greater for females
than for males.
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About
1 in 11 juveniles arrested in 1997 was under age 13.
1 in 5 juveniles arrestees carried a gun all or most of the time.
More than half of high school seniors have used an illicit drug at least
once-more have used alcohol.
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Gang
problems now affect more jurisdictions than before-including rural and
suburban areas.
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Allowing
one youth to leave high school for a life of crime and drug abuse costs
society $1.7-$2.3 million .
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Copyright © 2002 [United4Kids]. All rights reserved.
Revised: August 25, 2002
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