NCJ Number
139880
Date Published
1992
Length
35 pages
Annotation
In October 1992, the Senate Judiciary Committee held hearings on the alarming increases in the numbers of children carrying weapons in schools, at home, and on the streets.
Abstract
In reaction to reports from schools that gun violence by students was on the rise, the Committee undertook a survey of 50 of the Nation's largest school districts. The survey results showed tremendous increases in the numbers of children carrying weapons, using weapons, and being victimized by weapons. The witnesses at this hearing included the Commanding Officer of the Chicago Police Department School Patrol Unit, the Director of Instruction in the Brandywine School District in Wilmington, Delaware, and the Director of the National School Safety Center in West Lake Village, California. The key elements in the phenomenon of juvenile violence that were identified by these experts included drugs, gangs, and the vicious cycle of children carrying guns to protect themselves from other children.