All children and adolescents are at risk of being somehow involved in community violence. As you would think, living in poor, inner-city areas seems to increase the risk for community violence exposure. There are other things that can also put people at a greater risk; for example, gang affiliation and substance abuse, but nothing can guarantee that a child will or will not experience any violence.

Children are not only affected by community violence when they are hurt or threatened, but also when they see it being done to someone else. Our textbook, Exploring Child Development tells us that one-third of children in high crime areas in United States cities witness a homicide, and more tha

Although people tend to think that the violence will not have any affect on the child if he or she is very young, the truth is actually the opposite. The younger the child, the more likely it is that the child will experience psychological problems. Children who experience traumatic violence before the age of eleven are three times more likely to have problems than those who experience it after twelve years old.

n two-thirds witness a serious assault. Witnessing a violent act is actually a more common way children become involved in violence. In a study done by the Child and Family Psychosocial Research Center, 165 children, 111 first and second graders, and 54 fifth and sixth graders were surveyed, and the amount of children somehow involved in violence was overwhelming. Of the first and second graders, 21% of them have been victims of and 84% had witnessed at least one violent act, 3% of which were murders. Results in the fifth and sixth graders were even higher, showing that 35% had been involved, while 90% had witnessed an act, 4% of which were murders. These rates are even higher in a survey done by our text. This survey involves inner city African Americans, and the violent acts that influenced them. Of the children surveyed, 42% had seen someone shot, 25% had seen someone stabbed, and 23% had seen someone murdered.

Children's exposure to community v

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