Children and Gun Violence

Nearly a million U.S. students took guns to school during 1998, states the Parents Resource Institute for Drug Education. The number of American citizens concerned with adolescent gun violence is rapidly increasing.

As long as there is a gun in the home, there is a potential for danger. The best protection is to remove all firearms from the home, but even that does not ensure your child's safety. Guns obtained by illegal means represent a growing number of the weapons used in violent crimes.

You should also check with parents at the homes where your child plays. Nearly 40% of the shootings of children under 16 occurred in the homes of friends and relatives- most often when the children were left unsupervised.

Gunshots are now the leading cause of death among teenage boys. Considering the fact that guns have a shelf life of hundreds of years and there are approximately 16,000 guns manufactured each day, gun violence is a crime that will not be a passing phase.

With all of the recent occurrences of school violence in the news, the safety of the nation's children is on everyone's minds. There are several ways that you can improve your child's safety at school. Do not have blind confidence in your child's school. If there is something worrying you- ask questions, visit the school, find out how high safety ranks with school officials. Remember the acronym A-S-K, Asking Saves Kids.

The school should have an answer for every single question, if not, they should be compelled to consider the issues and seek out the answers themselves. You can also request that the school form a safety committee of parents whose children currently attend the school. This factor is very important; if the committee members' children attend a different school, or have already graduated, their level of concern will not be as high or as in tune with yours.

The average American child witnesses 45 acts of violence on TV each day, most involving handguns. Since children often imitate what they see, they are often more aggressive after extensive viewing of TV violence. Monitoring your child's viewing of television and the Internet can help to decrease their exposure to violence. The less that your child is exposed, the less likely they will be to "try" something that they have seen or read about. Stress to your child that such behavior is not the best way to resolve a problem, and although this is not a foolproof solution, it can only help in the long run.