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Unintentional Injury and Violence (including Suicide)Posted December 31, 2004.
Approximately 70 percent of all deaths among adolescents aged 10-24 years are attributed to injuries from four causes: motor vehicle crashes account for 31 percent, homicide accounts for 15 percent, suicide accounts for 12 percent and all other unintentional injuries account for 12 percent. States—
2002 Legislative Session Enacted legislation included unintentional injury and school violence. The following is a sample of enacted legislation:
2003 Legislative Session Enacted legislation included prohibiting bullying and hazing in schools, programs to prevent teen dating violence and suicide prevention. The following is a sample of legislation that passed:
2004 Legislative Session Legislation included bills to study issues relating to violent deaths among children and youth suicide prevention. The following are some of the bills that passed:
Unintentional injury is the leading cause of death and disability for people aged 1-34. These injuries are preventable and are generally recognized as accidents in the schoolyard or on the job, but also include motor vehicle and bicycle accidents, fires, drownings, and falls. Caucasian (white/non-Hispanic) adolescents are more likely to die from unintentional injuries than African American or Hispanics. Males are generally at higher risk than females because they often engage in riskier behavior. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), approximately 4 million children and adolescents are injured at school each year. The CDC School Health Guidelines to Prevent Unintentional Injuries and Violence consist of eight recommendations and "were designed to help state and local education agencies and schools promote safety and help schools be safe places for students to learn." The eight recommendations include social environment, physical environment, health education, physical education and physical activity programs, health services, crisis response, family and community involvement, and staff development. Click here for NCSL’s Transportation program Centers for Disease Control and Prevention—National Center for Injury Prevention and Control http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/default.htm ViolenceYouth violence—gang activity and direct aggressive behavior—is the second leading cause of death for adolescents. Homicide is the leading cause of death for African American males and the second leading cause of death for Hispanic adolescents. According to the Centers for Disease Control's National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, one of the first steps toward preventing violence is to identify and understand the factors that place young people at risk for violent victimization and perpetration. Previous research shows that there are a number of individual and social factors that increase the probability of violence during adolescence and young adulthood. The key risk factors for violence are clustered in four areas and include:
Source: CDC-National Center for Injury Prevention and Control Click here for Youth Violence: A Report of the Surgeon General Click here for NCSL's School Violence Project Click here for NCSL's At Risk Youth/After School Programs SuicideSuicide is the third leading cause of death for adolescents and each year approximately 5,000 youth, ages 15-24, kill themselves. No annual data is available for the number of attempted suicides. Males are four times more likely to die from suicide than females, but females are more likely than males to actually attempt suicide. Native Americans and Alaska Natives are four times as likely as any other race or ethnicity to commit suicide and have the highest rates of suicide followed by Caucasian males. As adolescents go through puberty, their minds and bodies are constantly changing and they may not be emotionally or psychologically equipped to deal with daily stresses. Stresses at school and home and an inability to cope can lead to depression and eventually thoughts of suicide. According to the National Mental Health Association, four out of five teens exhibit warning signs prior to attempting suicide. These signs include, direct and indirect threats of suicide; obsession with death; dramatic change in personality or appearance; irrational, bizarre behavior; giving away belongings; severe drop in school attendance; and overwhelming sense of guilt, shame or reflection, among others. The Surgeon General's Call To Action To Prevent Suicide, July 1999. http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/calltoaction/default.htm Click here for State Suicide Prevention Plans, NCSL Legisbrief, March 2004. Date Rape and ViolenceAccording to the CDC, an estimated 302,100 women and 92,700 men are forcibly raped each year. More than half of the female rape victims were under age 18 when they were first raped. Dating violence is defined by the CDC's National Center for Injury Prevention and Control as "the perpetration or threat of an act of violence by at least one member of an unmarried couple on the other member within the context of dating or courtship." This violence includes any form of sexual assault, physical violence, and verbal or emotional abuse. Women are more likely to experience violent assaults than men by former spouses, boyfriends, or dating partners. A victim may not report sexual or physical assaults to the police for fear of retribution by the assailant or shame from the incident. Of the 500,000 rapes and sexual assaults on women of all ages that are reported to the police, nearly half are committed by someone the victim knows. The CDC reports that in a national study of college students, 27.5 percent of the women surveyed claimed that they were the victims of rape or attempted rape at least one time since age 14. Only 5 percent of these women reported the incident(s) to the police. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention—National Center for Injury Prevention and Control http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/default.htm Child Abuse and Neglect"Child abuse consists of any act of commission or omission that endangers or impairs a child's physical or emotional health and development. Child abuse includes any damage done to a child which cannot be reasonably explained and which is often represented by an injury or series of injuries appearing to be non-accidental in nature." (Childhelp USA) Mistreatment includes physical, sexual and psychological or emotional abuse, and neglect. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, one in four girls and one in eight boys will be sexually abused before they reach age 18, and approximately one in 20 children is physically abused each year. Every day thousands of youth are abused and millions of child abuse and neglect cases are reported each year primarily by teachers, law enforcement officers, social workers and physicians as well as family members, neighbors and members of the community. Every year hundreds of children die at the hands of their perpetrators—generally parents and other caretakers, such as relatives, babysitters, and foster parents. The effects of child abuse do not go away after the youth is removed from the dangerous situation. The emotional trauma generally stays with the abused through adulthood those who are unable to cope may become abusers themselves. US Department of Health and Human Services—The Administration for Children and Families http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs.html#caan Click here for NCSL's Child Welfare Program Other Sources: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention—National Center for Injury Prevention and Control http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/default.htm Center for School Mental Health Assistance (CSMHA) http://csmha.umaryland.edu/csmha2001/main.php3 US Department of Health and Human Services—SAMHSA—Center for Mental Health Services http://www.samhsa.gov/centers/cmhs/cmhs.html National Adolescent Health Information Center (NAHIC) http://youth.ucsf.edu/nahic/index.html NCSL provides the links above for informational purposes only, and they do not necessarily reflect NCSL positions. |
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