25% of Youth See or Suffer Assault with Weapon

More than 1 out of 4 U.S. children has been a witness or a victim of violence involving any weapon, a new study shows. About 3% or children said they had seen or were the victims of an assault with a deadly weapon (gun or knife). The study was based on a national survey of 4,114 people. They included children, ages 2 to 17, and their caregivers. About 12.5% said they had been directly attacked with any weapon. Another 13.1% had witnessed violence involving a weapon. Just under 1% said they had been directly attacked with a deadly weapon. Another 2.4% had witnessed such an assault. The survey showed that about 10% of the children in the study were “poly-victims.” They had been victimized in at least 7 different ways in the last year. Children who had been a victim or witness of weapon violence were more likely to be poly-victims than other children.