Gun Deaths Declining Among U.S. Teens, Young Adults

Mon Mar 11, 1:28 PM ET 

By Esther Csapo Rastegari 

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Gun violence among teens and young adults declined
during the 1990s, according to an analysis of national data presented recently
at the Society for Adolescent Medicine's annual meeting in Boston. 

The father-daughter team of Dr. Lawrence J. D'Angelo and Marisa K. D'Angelo found
good news in firearm-related information from the National Center for Health
Statistics and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (news - web
sites)'s Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance. 

While deaths and injuries from firearm-related incidents have played a major
role in the lives of teenagers, the D'Angelos found, the trend in such incidents
over the past 8 to 10 years has been a downward one. 

In 1990, there were 25.8 firearm-related deaths per 100,000 people aged 15 to
24 in the United States. This number had declined to 19.9 per 100,000 by 1998.
While the decline was seen in all ethnic groups, it was most dramatic among African-American
and African-Caribbean males, the researchers found, falling from 138 per 100,000
population to 101.8 per
100,000 over the same time period. 

This decline was mirrored in other statistics. The percentage of youth who reported
having carried a gun in the past 30 days fell from 7.9% in 1993 to 4.9% in 1999.
In 1991, 42.5% of youths reported having been in the fight in the past 30 days,
while
35.7% reported fighting in the past 30 days in 1999. The number of young people
who reported contemplating suicide in the past year also fell, from 29% in 1991
to 19.3% in 1999. 

While the reasons behind the decline are unclear, the results contradict the
"common perception that gun violence is going up," D'Angelo said. He added that
while school-related firearm incidents such as Columbine have led to a heightened
awareness about this issue, "it is improperly being reported. Adolescents are
once again unfairly being stigmatized in terms of their behavior, while in reality
they are making remarkable progress." 

He added, "Reporters don't want this information, because it doesn't sell newspapers,
and it doesn't make it on to the TV stations." 

Compared to other countries, D'Angelo said, "we still live in a relative climate
of violence, but things are actually getting better. Whatever parents are doing
at home, whatever is being done in the schools and in the community may not be
enough, but something is taking hold. I don't think we can say what it is, but
we just have to be honest about it and say that it is taking hold, and that change
is beginning to be seen." 

Another study presented at the meeting looked at teens' awareness of gun violence.
Drs. Bita Arabshahi and Anthony Acquavella of St. Christopher's Hospital for
Children in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, conducted a survey of 50 youth aged 13
to
19 waiting in three hospital-based pediatric clinics. About two-thirds of the
teens surveyed were female, and 80% were African American. 

The researchers found that while 12% of the teens had personally been threatened
with a gun, 68% had close friends or family members who had been exposed to gun
violence. Seventy-eight percent had received gun-related education in school,
but only about half of the study participants had discussed the issue with a
parent. 

"Communicating to teens about guns is crucial no matter where you live in this
country," Arabshahi said. "The estimates are that if the rates of gun violence
continue, it will be the leading cause of death among American teenagers." 

She added, "Schools have a big responsibility to educate teens about (gun violence),
but parents should not forget that a lot of education and information should
come from the home."