SAMHSA News Release

SAMHSA Unveils Data on Youth Violence

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) today released new data from the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse showing that in 2001 more than 4 million youths (19 percent of those age 12-17) participated in a serious fight at school or work, and over 3 million (15 percent) took part in a group-against-group fight. Almost 2 million youths (8 percent) attacked others in the past year with the intent of seriously hurting them.

This data shows that serious fights, while up from 17.9 percent in 2000, are still significantly below the 21.9 percent of youth that participated in a serious fight in 1999, the first year this data was collected. Group fighting declined from 8.4 percent 1999 to 7.5 percent in 2000, and has not changed statistically in 2001. The SAMHSA data show that about 28 percent of youths engaged in at least one of these violent behaviors in 2001. This compares to 31.4 percent engaging in at least one of these behaviors in 1999 and 26.3 percent in 2000.

"The alarming reality is that millions of children are engaging in violent behaviors," said SAMHSA Administrator Charles G. Curie. "Through the Safe Schools\Healthy Students and other violence prevention initiatives, SAMHSA is working to make schools safer, to foster children's healthy development, and to prevent aggressive and violent behavior among the nation's youth. Without help, these young people endanger their futures, their lives, and the lives of others."

The 2001 data indicate that the most violent years for youth are ages 14 or 15, when 9 percent fought with intent to inflict serious harm. Younger and older youth engage in less violence, with 8 percent of 16 or 17 year olds intending serious harm and 7 percent of 12 and 13 year olds intending to seriously hurt their victims. In 2001, Asian youths were less likely to have attacked others with the intent of seriously hurting them in the past year (4 percent) compared with black youth (13 percent) and Hispanic or white youth (7 percent). Of those engaging in two or more types of violent behaviors in 2001, over 40 percent used illicit drugs and over 50 percent used alcohol.

The National Household Survey on Drug Abuse is a national survey of almost 70,000 people aged 12 and older, conducted annually by SAMHSA. The 2001 survey polled over 23,000 youth aged 12-17, who reported their substance use and related behaviors.

Information on the Safe Schools-Healthy Student's initiative is available on www.samhsa.gov. S AMHSA also has available a new publication "What you need to know about Youth Violence Prevention" that can be ordered by calling 800-789-2647.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, a public health agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the lead federal agency for improving the quality and availability of substance abuse prevention, addiction treatment and mental health services in the United States. Information on SAMHSA's programs is available on this website, www.samhsa.gov. 

 

This page was last updated on 07 November, 2002
SAMHSA is An Agency of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services