NCJ Number
161274
Date Published
1995
Length
23 pages
Annotation
This report presents statistics and trend information on five indicators of child safety in Maryland: school suspensions and expulsions; injuries requiring hospitalization; adolescent deaths from accidents, suicide, and homicide; and juvenile arrests for violent crimes.
Abstract
During the 1993-94 school year, more than 50,000 students in Maryland public schools were suspended. Thirty- five percent of the suspensions were for violence-related offenses, mainly physical attacks on other students. From April 1993 through March 1994, 374 hospitalizations for assaults to individuals under age 20 were documented. Between 1989 and 1992, 453 children under age 15 and 863 adolescents died from violence. Accidents accounted for 79 percent of the deaths, homicide for 17.2 percent, and suicide for 3.8 percent. During the same period, 863 adolescents ages 15-19 died from accidents (51 percent), homicide (38.4 percent), and suicide (10.6 percent). In 1993, Maryland had the fifth highest juvenile crime arrest rate in the country. The number of juvenile violent crime arrests increased from 2,286 in 1989 to 3,419 in 1993. The report urges a change in focus so that violence is regarded as a public health issue rather than a criminal justice issue. Figures and tables