12 or older were killed with a firearm. Despite recent incidents, schools are one of the safest places for children. The chance of a student suffering a school-associated violent death is less than one in a million. A 1997 survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System found that the number of students carrying weapons to school has declined in recent years. Less than 10 percent of American high school students reported having carried a weapon on school property in the past month.
Many communities lack the resources to provide adequate after-school activities.
Despite declines in crime and violence, children are increasingly being tried as adults and held in juvenile and adult jails and prisons. In 1997, there were 9,100 juveniles being held in local adult jails on one day. This figure indicates a 35 percent increase from the same day in 1994, when 6,700 juveniles were held in adult jails. Children and youth held in adult jails are at serious risk of assault and abuse. Juveniles housed in adult prisons are eight times more likely to commit suicide, five times more likely to be sexually assaulted, two times more likely to be assaulted by staff and 50 percent more likely to be attacked with a weapon compared to juveniles in juvenile facilities.