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The annual cost of violent crime in the United States is estimated to be $507 billion or 5.1% of the US gross domestic product.

-- World Health Organization, 2004

In the period March 2003 through April 2004, the confirmed number of children in the US wounded by abuse or neglect was
1,866,667
-- 1,853,833 more than the number of Americans wounded in the War on Terror in the same period.

-- US Department of Defense, US Department of Health and Human Services, 2005

IMAGINE...

Reliable news sources report that 13,576 school buses with 896,000 children were hijacked this morning in a coordinated attack by international criminals. All of the children were seriously injured. Over 5,000 were killed. The average number of school buses involved, each carrying 66 children, is 272 per state. The average number of children involved per state is 17,920 with the number of deaths averaging more than 100 for each state.

HOW WOULD YOU FEEL, WHAT WOULD YOU DO -- How would you feel about the news that 17,920 children from your state were injured and more than 100 killed? How would you feel about the losses to the other 49 states? What would you do when you learned of this disaster? Take action? Ignore it? Pretend it's not a problem?

THE FACT IS, IT IS HAPPENING -- It isn't international criminals. It's us. The US Department of Justice and the US Department of Health & Human Services report that there are 896,000 cases of confirmed felonious child abuse annually in the United States -- incidents so serious that they were felonies. And these are only the reported cases. More than 5,000 children die each year at the hands of those charged with their well-being.

We are the richest nation on earth, and our failure to bring to bear our resources to end this savagery is a stunning commentary on our values, integrity, and priorities. There simply is no excuse. We have three choices -- to deny the problem, to turn away from it, or to work to end it.

Writing about boys and violence, here is what Edvita founder and president Ari Cowan says about the choices he faces:

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questions eat at me. How can I bear my own sorrow in seeing their struggle -- the price for having opened my eyes and my heart to their suffering? These are our sons and brothers; our fathers, husbands, and friends -- each someone's child. If I leave them and their sisters to the insanity of violence, if I don't take it upon myself to act on their behalf, how will I explain myself to their mothers, to the others who love them? What will I say to those who believed in me and patiently led me away from the bloody fields of my own childhood? What will be the excuse that exempts me -- that I was too blind, too busy, too uninformed, too removed, too confused, too preoccupied with creating a fortress of comfort and denial for myself? How will I justify my own being in the world? What am I to tell my children? What will you tell yours?"

A VIOLENCE SAMPLER -- The United States and the world:

Homicide is the second leading cause of death in the United States for persons 15 to 34 years of age and is the leading cause of death for African-Americans in this age group. -- Centers for Disease Control National Center for Injury Prevention and Control

The US Department of Justice reported that there were 290,000 serious violent crimes committed away from school against students aged 12 to 18, and 161,000 at school. -- National Center for Education Statistics Bureau of Justice Statistics US Deparement of Justice

Public Agenda, the nonpartisan opinion research organization, reported that 40% of parents and teachers thought a violent incident causing severe bodily harm is likely to take place in their high school in the next two years. The report also noted that 49% of students thought teachers spend more time trying to keep order in the classroom than they do teaching. And 32% of students reported that their high school has problems with bullying and harassment. -- Where We Are Now: 12 Things You Need to Know About Public Opinion and Public Schools 2003

Utah's child advocacy group, Kids Count, reported that the number of abused and neglected children in Utah is on the rise. The agency reports more than 1,600 more cases of child abuse and neglect were reported in 2004 than in 2003. The study notes that, every month, more than 1,000 children are abused or neglected and that 21 newborns die before their first birthday. -- KSL-TV, Channel 5, Salt Lake City 02 February 2005

Top of Page In Texas, more than 200 Texas children died from abuse or neglect in the past year, up 11% from the previous year and double the number from a decade earlier, according to the state Department of Family and Protective Services. The 2004 fatality rate is roughly 65 percent higher than the latest national average from the federal Department of Health and Human Services. -- San Francisco Chronicle 09 February 2005

In India, Action for the Rights of the Child (ARC) reports that at least 40% of Indian girls have experienced child sexual abuse before age 16 and 25% of young boys have been victims. Minors constitute 75% of all rape cases. ARC is a network of several organizations working towards the realization of children's rights. -- PUNE Newsline, India, 07 December 2004

The Australian Medical Association (AMA) national president Bill Glasson reported that a survey found one in 12 general practice physicians have been physically attacked by their patients. More than one in five general practice doctors and their staffs have dealt with violent patients at least once a week, according to the report. Glasson said doctors and nurses in hospital accident and emergency wards had suffered attacks from patients for many years but the violence had now spread to doctors in private practice. The survey published in the latest edition of Australian Doctor magazine found outbursts of violence were becoming more common. -- The Age Online Melbourne, Australia 13 January 2005

We believe that the new approach we use to prevent and respond to violence is superior to any other approaches now available. It is the first application of the new Violence Integrative Prevention and Restoration (PAR) Model -- a radical departure from the traditional punitive model which is the central theme of most prevention and response approaches now in use.

We believe that when human beings sincerely make the commitment to end violence, this centuries-old scourge will become more and more rare. The PAR Model can be an effective part of that effort.

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