The killings of children under the age of 18 are worrying children’s rights organizations across the United States today after a report said homicides in this age group have increased since 2020.
The rate of fatal incidents involving children rose about 28 percent from 2.2 per 100,000 in 2019 to 2.8 the following year, according to research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Homicide is the leading cause of death among infants in the United States, making the nation an outlier among similarly developed countries that rank high in auto accidents, cancer, and other diseases and injuries.
This was noted by The New York Times newspaper, which, after reviewing recent data, reported how firearm homicides involving minors have increased by more than 73 percent since 2018 and ahead of the growing inequality of risk among Afro – Descendants and others warned.
Statistics also show that racial discrimination exposes African American children to “concentrated poverty, segregated and underfunded education systems, environmental hazards, lack of safe spaces and limited opportunities,” he said.
Likewise, the authors of a study published in JAMA Pediatrics reported that the numbers warn of a public health issue that “requires immediate attention.”
According to an accompanying editorial, child homicides are “essentially preventable” but are “increasing, not decreasing”.
The analysis of the scientific publication compared the number of children admitted to the country’s children’s hospitals for treatment during two 21-month periods, one prior to the Covid-19 pandemic and the other beginning in April 2020. , as the health emergency gained ground.
The number of children requiring care for gunshot wounds rose to 2,759 in the second period from 1,815 in the first, a growth of just over 50 percent, according to the results.
The increase in child murders is part of a decade-long trend, based on the report published by the New York Times.
In 2020, he pointed out, the number skyrocketed, when 2,058 children aged 17 or younger were victims of homicide, compared to 1,611 in 2019.
According to the Gun Violence Archive website, so far this year in the United States, 1,609 children under the age of 17 have died from a gun, while 4,347 have been injured by such devices.