Violence is the "threatened or actual use of physical force or power against another person, against oneself, or against a group or community, that either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, or deprivation." ¹

• In the United States, injuries are the leading cause of death and disability for people aged 1 to 34 years.²
  
  
• Between 1999 to 2006, approximately 72% of all deaths among adolescents aged 12-19 years were attributed to injuries from only four causes: unintentional (accidental) injuries (48%), homicide (13%), and suicide (11%).³ Of the unintentional injuries 73% were due to motor vehicle accidents.³ Highly associated with these injuries are adolescent behaviors such as physical fights, carrying weapons, making a suicide plan, and not using seatbelts.
  
  
• In 2009, 31.5% of high school students had been in a physical fight in the past 12 months, ³ 17.5% had carried a weapon in the past 30 days,³ 13% had made a plan about how they would attempt suicide in the past 12 months,⁴ and 9.7% never or rarely wore a seat belt when riding in a car.⁵
  
  
• An estimated 302,100 women and 92,700 men are forcibly raped each year in the United States. More than half (54%) of the female rape victims were less than 18 years of age, and 22% were less than 12 years of age when they were raped.⁶

This information is from the CDC Healthy Youth! Adolescent Health Website.

References:

1. Foege WH, Rosenberg ML, Mercy JA. Public health and violence prevention. Current Issues in Public Health 1995;1:2–9.

2. Miniño AM, Anderson RN, Fingerhut LA, Boudreault MA, Warner M. Deaths: Injuries, 2002. National Vital Statistics Reports; 54(10): 1-125.

3. Miniño AM. Mortality among teenagers aged 12–19 years: United States, 1999–2006. NCHS data brief, no 37. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2010. [Internet]. Available: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db37.pdf. Accessed May 26, 2011.

4. Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance – United States, 2009: Trends in the Prevalence of Behaviors Contributing to Violence [Internet] Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Available: http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/yrbs/pdf/us_violence_trend_yrbs.pdf. Accessed: May 24, 2011.

5. Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance – United States, 2009: Trends in the prevalence of suicidal-related behaviors, 1991-2009 [Internet]. Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Available: http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/yrbs/pdf/us_suicide_trend_yrbs.pdf. Accessed: May 24, 2011.

6. Tjaden P, Thoennes N. Full report of the prevalence, incidence, and consequences of violence against women: Findings from the National Violence Against Women Survey. Report for grant 93-IJ-CX-0012, funded by the National Institute of Justice and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Washington (DC): National Institute of Justice; 2000.