Today's youth violence is less lethal, largely because of a decline in the use of firearms. Fewer young people today are carrying weapons, including guns, and fewer are taking them to school. Homicides at school are declining. Violent confrontations are less likely to result in killing or serious injury, and the police are less likely to be called in for an arrest. This is a heartening trend, but this is not the time for complacency.
Violent behavior is just as prevalent today as it was during the violence epidemic.
Some 10 to 15 percent of high school seniors reveal in confidential surveys that they have committed at least one act of serious violence in the past year. This prevalence rate has been slowly yet steadily rising since 1980. There is also a difference by sex in the volume of violence. Male youths commit many more violent acts than female youths, according to both arrest records and self-reports. The existence of a racial difference between African American and white youths is more questionable.