There’s not much of a surprise that our present times have become increasingly violent. In US only, common people have the already common habit of owning a weapon. Self-defense or increased criminal tendencies spawned by fear and a chaotic society that seems to never stop from degrading, we don’t know yet, but the future sounds alarming. Recent statistics show increasing exposure to weapons violence among children
Almost a third of all children in US are exposed to guns violence long before reaching the awareness age, namely 18 years of daily and undramatic life existence. The Journal Pediatrics noted the findings and further details that 1 in every 33 youngsters has been directly assaulted with either guns or knives, during such violent incidents.
Back in the days, childhood was about fairy tales, pretty princesses, knights and fighters for a world of dreams. Now, childhood involves fire guns, assaults and imprisonment ever since the early stages of human existence.
Kimberly Mitchell, the study’s lead author and a well-known scientist who works inside the Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire, declares that is beyond worrying how millions of children are exposed to violence that implies weapons, with large number of kids getting hurt by guns and knives. This poses a more serious question: Does humanity still stand a chance against itself? Or how long can we go on like this?
The study was based on large fragments of data analyzed by researchers and came from national telephone surveys in which more than 4000 children, with ages ranging from 2 to 17, were surveyed and questioned. Some of the children who went to such dramatic events were not even able to speak for themselves and had caretakers answering instead of them. From the total amount of the surveyed, 57% were white, 15% black and 19% Latinos. The majority of them lived with adult caretakers, either biological, direct relatives or adoptive parents. However, 36% came from broken families, with a single parent or another caregiver.
The most worrying piece of statistic is related to the majority. 62% of the surveyed are kids who come from middle class families, social range that should represent the balance between the high and the low, in all the aspects of life.
Levels of violence implied objects such as sticks, rocks and bottles, with 3% of the surveyed reporting child exposure to knives and guns.
Image Source: roberthuntstudio.com
