During the Duval County School Board Meeting held on Monday, Sept. 10, Board Chairwoman Paula D. Wright addressed the growing problem of teen violence in our community. Her presentation included national, state and local statistics on teen violence including:

• Nationwide, 12 young people die ach day as a result of homicide and nother 1,400 are treated in emergency rooms as a result of non-fatal assalut related injuries (National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

• There was a slight decrease in the number of homicide deaths in Florida among children aged 1-24 from 2015-2017. (Florida Office of Vital Statistics)

• The majority of teens killed or injured, when reviewing data between January and September 2018, occurred in Duval, Orange, and Miami-Dade counties. (Gunviolencearchive.org)

• Among similar cities in Florida, Jacksonville has the largest number of children injured by gun violence year to date in 2018. (Gunviolencearchive.org)

• Duval County had a 73 percent increase in juvenile arrests for gun violence between 2012-13 to 2016-17, while the State only had a 15 percent increase.

The data, Chair Wright suggested, points to a serious and increasing trend of violence among young people in Duval County. Chair Wright ended her discussion with a call to action. As a community, recognize this is a community issue that involves a community response as well as engagement with our local and state lawmakers.

Click here for contact information of our state and federal elected representatives.

To view the entire presentation from Chair Wright, click here.