Some statistics — What young Americans face today (1994)
This list was published in the Children’s Defense Fund Yearbook in 1994. What might these statistics be today, in 2020?
- Every 5 seconds of every school day, a child drops out of school.
- Every 26 seconds, a child runs away from home.
- Every 59 seconds, a teenage girl gives birth to a baby out-of-wedlock.
- Every 7 minutes, a child is arrested on an illegal drug offense.
- Every 33 minutes, a child is killed or severely injured by a gun.
- Every day, 135,000 children bring guns to school.
- Every day, 2,849 children are born into poverty.
- Every day, the parents of 2,750 children separate or divorce.
- Every day, 1.3 million latchkey children, aged 5 to 14, are left to fend for themselves for much of the day.
- Every day, approximately 500 children, aged 10 to 14, begin using illegal drugs.
- Every day, approximately 1000 children start drinking alcohol.
- Every day, 3 children die of injuries inflicted by abusive parents.
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