America has the highest rate of childhood murders and suicide of the world's 26 wealthiest nations, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The United States accounts for almost three quarters of homicides of children in advanced nations. For children 14 and younger, the U.S. suicide rate is double that of other industrialized nations.
Agency statistics show that the recent epidemic of violence impacting younger children is almost exclusively an American trend. Juvenile crime rates in the United States for the last decade have far outstripped adult rates. In comparison, statistics from other countries show no homicides involving children less than 15 years old.
The centers did not offer an explanation for the enormous gap between murder rates of children in America compared with those of other countries. Other researchers and criminologists attribute these tragedies to a growing number of unsupervised children, families in which both parents work outside the home, high divorce rates and a tolerance of violence. (Source: The Washington Post .)
