Two disturbing reports this week demonstrate how the United States is failing its children.
In one, it was noted that gunfire has supplanted automobile crashes as the leading killer of Americans ages 1-19. In another, a study finds that suicide attempts among young children has sharply increased.
The reasons behind these alarming trends are varied and debatable. But each represents the dangers and struggles facing American children, and each represents the need for attention from this nation’s adults.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, motor vehicle deaths among youth fell from 7,885 in 2002 to 3,512 in 2019 before a slight uptick in 2020. Safer cars and campaigns to promote safe driving have steadily reduced the rate of vehicle fatalities for both adults and children over the past several decades.
Meanwhile, U.S. gun deaths among children and teens have increased, spiking to 4,357 in 2020 and surpassing vehicle crashes as the leading cause of death.
As the San Jose Mercury News reports: “Experts point to many causes — the frustrations of entrenched poverty and discrimination, glorification of gun violence in popular culture and entertainment, and too-easy youth access to guns in many states like Texas — all kicked into overdrive by the stresses of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The report arrives in the wake of a mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. An 18-year-old shooter entered the school and murdered 19 students and two teachers.
Following that horrifying event, irresponsible politicians have tried to deflect the issue toward mental health issues rather that looking at the prevalence of guns as a root cause.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott noted that there are no mental health hospitals in a 40-county region surrounding Uvalde. Yet he failed to mention that in April he slashed $211 million from the budget of the department that overseas mental health programs in the state. And he failed to mention that, according to the 2022 State of Mental Health in America report, Texas ranks 50th among the states for access to mental health care. The dichotomy between Abbott’s words and actions is damning.
Meanwhile, doctors and psychologists are seeing an alarming number of suicide attempts by young children. The Seattle Times reports that a pair of research studies show that the rate of 10- to 12-year-olds who ingest poisonous medications or other substances to attempt suicide increased by 4.5 times from 2000 to 2020.
“There’s kind of this idea that’s out there now, which is if you get really overwhelmed, if something bad happens, an option is trying to kill yourself,” a Portland doctor told the newspaper.
In Clark County, several mental health resources are available:
- Clark County Mental Health Crisis Services can be reached at 800-626-8137.
- The Southwest Washington chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness is at 360-695-2823 or www.namiswwa.org.
- And Clark County Teen Talk provides “nonjudgmental support for teens, by teens” at 360-397-2428, by text at 360-984-0936 or online at clark.wa.gov/community-services/teen-talk.
Your medical provider also can recommend assistance if you are worried about the mental health of your child.
These are, indeed, difficult times for children, with a pandemic upending their childhood and sowing social chaos. As a nation, we must be more attune to those difficulties.
