Growing Up Scared - Who Cares? |

According to a recent report by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, more than 60% of children surveyed by The National Survey of Children's Exposure to Violence were exposed to violence within the past year, either directly or indirectly, and nearly 1/2 of them were assaulted at least once in the past year. The numbers are even higher for urban minority youth: 85% have directly witnessed acts of violence and 69% have been directly victimized, according to an article in the Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing.

So many children are exposed to violence in our country, and these children are exhibiting symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and other emotional disorders as a result. With so much attention paid to our wars overseas, it can be easy to overlook - or disregard - the war zones that many of our young people are living in here.

Maybe it's time for an experiment comparing national news coverage of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan versus community violence across our own country? Comment your findings!