BOSTON, According to a survey commissioned by the city of Boston, almost 90 percent of Boston public high school students witnessed acts of violence last year. Respondents to the 2004 survey also said that nearly a third of them had a family member killed in a shooting, stabbing or beating.
According to Boston Globe, the survey found that many students had access to weapons. Half the boys said getting a gun would be “very or fairly easy.”
Twenty-five percent of the students said they had seen someone shot in 2004; 70 percent had been threatened and/or chased with serious risk of harm; 82 percent had been punched, slapped, hit, kicked or beaten up; and 40 percent had been attacked with a weapon such as a knife or bat.
In response to the survey, Mayor Thomas Menino said he would appoint a youth advisor to address these issues.
