Centers for Disease Control

Youth violence is widespread in the United States and is the second leading cause of death for young people between the ages of 10 and 24. According to a report released by the CDC, youth violence includes various behaviors such as bullying, slapping or hitting and can cause more emotional than physical harm. Robbery, assault or rape can lead to serious injury and even death. In 2006, an average of 16 people were murdered in the U.S. each day.

Take a look at some of the CDC’s statistics:

• 5,958 young people age 10 to 24 were murdered—an average of 16 each day—in 2006.

• Over 631,000 violence-related injuries in young people age 10 to 24 were treated in U.S. emergency rooms in 2007

• In a 2007 nationwide survey, 36% of high school students reported being in a physical fight during the past 12 months.

• Nearly 6% of high school students in 2007 reported taking a gun, knife, or club to school in the 30 days before the survey.

• An estimated 30% of kids between 6th and 10th grade report being involved in bullying.

Find more information here

Program Note: Tune in tonight to hear more from Steve Perry. AC360° at 10 p.m. ET.

Police say a student at Richmond High School was gang raped outside during a homecoming dance.

Steve Perry
CNN Education Contributor

Our kids are subjected to environments and images of violence on a level never seen before. They are numbed. I asked a group of girls about why listening to Chris Brown was wrong and I was not prepared to be blown away by their twisted perception of what is reasonable behavior.

If you have not been in a school lately you ought to be afraid, very afraid. The highest rates of violence are directly related to what is considered acceptable.

From the streets of Chicago – where children watched and an adult taped a child be beaten to death – to Richmond High School where children watched a child's innocence ripped from her soul, we have seen what happens when children lose respect for life.

This is the direct result of kids feeling unraised and unloved. It is also the result of kids growing up without adult structure and high expectations. Communities can become Lord of the Flies environments in which the kids make adult decisions and they decide wrong every single time.

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Derrion Albert, 16, was beaten to death two weeks ago in Chicago, IL. His death was captured on video.

Dewey Cornell
Special to CNN

I was saddened, but not surprised, by reports of the Chicago, Illinois, street fight that resulted in the death of 16-year-old Derrion Albert.

The problem of youth violence is described in great detail by New York University Professor Frederic Thrasher in his 500-page report of 1,313 gangs in Chicago. He points out how typical it is for unsupervised boys in disadvantaged neighborhoods to form into groups that attack rival groups who trespass into their territory.

Some groups are loosely organized - hardly more than mobs - while others are more formal gangs with names and rituals of membership. All these groups typically arise under conditions of poverty, social discrimination and familial distress that leave the boys desperate for any claim of respect, power or authority.

What may surprise readers is Thrasher published his study in 1927.

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Derrion Albert was fatally beaten last month.

Ruben Navarrette Jr.
Special to CNN

Those of us in the U.S. can be so smug about what we think we know about why some teenagers turn into bloodthirsty predators - even when it turns out that we don't know much.

Frankly, we might know more if we didn't jump to conclusions and let our prejudices get in the way.

After the videotaped beating death of Derrion Albert, a 16-year-old African-American honors student in Chicago, Illinois, I criticized President Obama for avoiding public comment about the tragedy and thus blowing the opportunity to have the first African-American president address the issue of black-on-black crime.

Instead, the White House dispatched Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Attorney General Eric Holder to Chicago to stand in for the president. Even that gesture further enraged the local African-American community when the Cabinet secretaries - in a boneheaded move - convened their meetings with local officials not on the South Side where the beating took place but downtown at the Four Seasons Hotel.

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Anderson Cooper | BIO
AC360° Anchor

WANT TO GET INVOLVED?

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan told Anderson Cooper that what at-risk kids need most are mentors. Go here to find out how to find become a mentor to a child in your area.

AC360°

Fifty-seven children, ages 18 and under have been killed so far this year in Chicago. Last year, 100 kids were killed, according to the Chicago police department.

Take a look at this photo gallery of some of the children killed over the past year.

Program Note: Anderson is reporting live from Chicago tonight. More on what's being done to curb the violence. AC360° at 10 p.m. ET.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan speaks during a news conference in Chicago on Wednesday.

Mishan Afsari
AC360°

I watch AC360° report on youth violence in Chicago, and it’s the most thought provoking national news for me since Hurricane Katrina. In fact, I see strong parallels between the two stories. And the question I’m always left with is: how can they be helped?

In late August 2005 when I heard a hurricane was threatening to hit hard in the gulf coast, I admit, I thought – it’s a hurricane – it happens, but it wasn’t going to affect me. I imagine many of us thought the same. But only days later, the whole country was wondering when the help would arrive to the people suffering from that devastating natural disaster.

Now it’s Chicago. It’s not natural, but it’s a disaster by most standards. So far this year, 57 kids aged 18 and under were victims of homicide in Chicago, according to the Chicago Police Department. Last year, 100 kids were killed.

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Editor's Note: U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Attorney General Eric Holder are in Chicago today, meeting with Chicago Mayor Richard Daley on school violence in the wake of the videotaped beating death of a 16-year-old high school student, which drew national attention to the violence in the city.

AC360°

Check out this interactive map of crime reports, news and statistics in Chicago. You can view specific addresses and offenses by scrolling over the map.

Program Note: Tune in tonight to hear more on how to stop the violence in Chicago from Steve Perry, on AC360° at 10p.m. ET.

CNN's Education Contributor Steve Perry grew up in a public housing project and he founded the school to serve kids from similar backgrounds.

David Puente
AC360° Producer

Yesterday before the program Steve Perry, CNN’s Education Contributor, texted me.

He said he was in make-up and wanted to come down and meet him if I had the time. Two hours earlier we had talked on the phone preparing his segment with Anderson about the violence in Chicago and the changes that need to take place in schools around the country in order to curb inner city crime.

I was happy to make time. I’d heard a lot about Steve. He’s the principal and founder of Capitol Preparatory Magnet School in Connecticut. Before that he managed a homeless shelter, campaigned as a candidate for state representative and published three books, including the best seller "Man Up! Nobody is coming to save us". As a graduate of Newark public schools in New Jersey, I’m always interested in educators who are really trying to improve schools in big cities. I know first hand the need that exists.

When I walked into the make-up room. He was already in an animated discussion about education and the economy with Ali Velshi. Ali left for his live hit so I asked Steve what he thought of Jesse Jackson’s op-ed in which he wrote “…in many cities of the country, children are sensibly scared as they go to school. They should have safe passage to school. In Little Rock, Ark., when we first desegregated students, the federal government sent in troops to guarantee safe passage to school…”

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Editor's Note: Anderson is reporting on the violence among youth in Chicago. He speaks to Education Secretary Arne Duncan and other public officials about what is being done to curb the violence. Tonight AC360° at 10 p.m. ET.

Chicago Police Department

Check out this interactive to explore reported crime in the city of Chicago. You can search by neighborhood, block, time period and offense. You can also filter the data to create customized reports of crime according to various criteria.