Teen violence carries with it some interesting statistics. Many concerned organizations compile them regularly to raise awareness of teen violence. This fact sheet contains some statistics of teen violence from reliable sources.

Violent crimes committed by teens

Violent crimes are committed by teens every year. The National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center (1) provides these statistics on teen violence regarding violent crimes: 

• In 2000, about 1,561 youth under the age of 18 were arrested for homicide. 
• In 2000, nine percent of the murders in the United States were committed by persons under the age of 18. 
• One in ten teens arrested has been engaging in a violent activity that could have resulted in the serious injury or the death of another person.

Teen violence is a very real occurrence, and violent crimes are committed by teens regularly.

Suicide

We often neglect suicide in our examinations of teen violence. However, suicide is violence against oneself and deserves very real consideration. Two teen violence statistics to think about regarding suicide (1):

1. The third leading cause of death among teens is suicide 
2. Over the past year, one in 11 high school students admit to having made a suicide attempt.

These statistics do not even take into account the number of students that think about violence against themselves on a regular basis. Additionally, these statistics do not take into account the rising instances of self-injury, which do not necessarily need to be associated with suicidal feelings, but which is a form of self-violence (2, 3).

Teen violence every day

Not only is teen violence related to violent crime and self-violence, but also there are lesser forms of violence that are perhaps more prevalent and worrisome, as they indicate a trend toward teen violence as an every day occurrence. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report the following teen violence statistics (4): 

• National estimates indicate that 30 percent of youth in grade six through 10 are involved in bullying, either as a target or as the bully. Some even experience both. 
• A national CDC survey indicates that 33 percent of high school students were in at least one physical fight within a 12 month period. 
• In 30 days preceding the CDC survey, 17 percent of high school students reported that they carried a weapon at least once. The weapon could be a gun, knife or club.

Consequences of teen violence

The CDC has identified a few direct and indirect costs associated with teen violence. These costs take into account tangible medical costs, but also the intangible costs associated with lost productivity and reduction in quality of life (4): 

• Total direct and indirect costs of teen violence is more than $158 billion per year. 
• Nationwide, six percent of teens missed school due to feelings of insecurity regarding being at school, or traveling to and from school. 
• Healthcare costs increase in communities with teen violence. 
• Costs arise from injury and death, such as medical care and funeral expenses. 
• Decreasing property values affect areas with high incidents of teen violence, impacting both long time residents and new residents.

Teen Violence Statistics Sources:

1. safeyouth.org/scripts/news/statistics.asp
2. pamf.org/teen/life/suicide/selfinjury.html
3. cignabehavioral.com/web/basicsite/bulletinBoard/selfInjury.jsp
4. cdc.gov/ncipc/factsheets/yvfacts.htm