Great article from NPR asking, “When It Comes To Guns, How Young Is Too Young? following Tuesday’s accidental shooting in Kentucky.

Read the article here.

Read the article here.

To read more about CPYV’s ASK (Asking Saves Kids) program, click here.

Read the article here.

An important question to ask before your child’s next play date. Featuring insight from CPYV’s Senior Manager of Public Health and Safety, Becca Knox.

Read the article here.

For most information on tips for asking about guns in the home and CPYV’s ASK Program visit CPYV’s ASK Page.

Key findings from the survey are available here.

We know that in 81% of school shootings – including the incident in Chardon – young people know about threats before violent acts occur. CPYV’s own recent research found that half of all students have known of someone who threatened an act of violence. But because they don’t take these threats seriously, don’t want to be seen as “snitches,” or are afraid of retaliation, 30% of these young people did nothing about the threat.

The good news? 88% of teens in our survey said they would report a threat if they knew they could do so anonymously.

The 866-SPEAK-UP hotline provides the means to do just that. Available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, the hotline has received 40,000 calls to date, preventing countless tragedies.

As details continue to emerge, what remains clear is that our work is not done. Learn more about the SPEAK UP program. Join us on Facebook at Arm Yourself with Knowledge and on Twitter at ArmWKnowledge, and learn how you can help spread the word.

In both cities, the vast majority of parents thought asking about firearms was a good idea. Here are some other highlights from the study:

Results suggest that the campaign was effective in spreading awareness about the risks of firearms in the home:

• 56% of those who had heard of the campaign were concerned about the danger of firearms at friends’ and neighbors’ homes, compared to 42% of those who had not heard of the campaign.

Almost 9 in 10 parents would feel comfortable being asked about firearms in the home:

• 13% of those who had not heard of the campaign said they would feel uncomfortable being asked about guns in the home.
• Only 9% who had heard of the campaign said they would feel uncomfortable.

The findings of the evaluation suggest that ASK is making a difference. CPYV looks forward to continuing to inspire parents to ASK in 2012!

See the full results in the ISRN Public Health Journal article and find out more about ASK (Asking Saves Kids).

A new article published this week in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine finds that conversations between doctors and families about gun ownership are not only productive, but necessary. Key Findings in the article include:

• According to data from the 1994 National Health Interview Study and Year 2000 supplement, 35% of households with children report owning at least one firearm. 43% of these have at least one unlocked firearm. 13% store firearms in ways accessible to children: unlocked and loaded, or unlocked, unloaded, and stored with ammunition.
• A 2002 study found that more than half of all suicides are firearm-related, and adolescent suicide rates are four to ten times higher in households with a gun.
• According to CDC data, an average of 86 Americans die by firearms each day.
• A 2003 study compared families who underwent a brief gun-safety counseling intervention with a family physician to those who received care without any intervention. 58%-64% of those counseled made a change to store guns more safely, compared with 33% in the control group. Four out of seven similar studies found improved firearm storage after similar interventions.
• In a 1992 study conducted at Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, 90% of respondents said they would tell their child’s doctor whether they kept a gun in the home, and 75% said they would listen to a physician’s advice about keeping guns unloaded and unlocked.

The article’s authors liken this issue to cases such as child passenger safety and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), in which physicians and public health officials made dramatic progress through outreach and education. “If physicians are not allowed to ask about fırearms as a health issue, then they cannot even attempt to work toward prevention of injury.”

Like this article’s authors, The Center to Prevent Youth Violence recognizes the problem of youth firearms injuries as a preventable issue of public health. While we don’t yet know the outcome of the law in Florida, or how likely it is that other states will enact similar measures, this issue highlights the importance of parents educating themselves about safe firearm storage practices, and asking if there are guns in the homes where their children play. These are steps that parents can take today to protect the health and safety of their children.

John and Elizabeth Gray didn’t think about asking if there were guns in the house when choosing a home day care for their son. They trusted the sitter so much they left Nathaniel there overnight when John, a musician, traveled for shows.

Even when Elizabeth learned that the sitter’s son had a BB gun, she wasn’t concerned. The family assured her the gun was kept out of reach. But one day last fall, Nathaniel and another young child got hold of the weapon. They loaded it and argued over who got to hold it. Nathaniel, now 4 years old, took a hit to the eye.

His injuries have required two surgeries, and he often wears an eye patch. Now the Grays, who live in Greenwood, always ask about guns and any other potential hazards before allowing Nathaniel to play in another home.

“The thing is, I’m overly protective in general from this experience,” said John.

Most of the attention on gun safety is about how parents can keep their children safe from weapons.

But it’s not just parents who own guns who need to worry about gun safety. Parents of children who visit other homes need to take steps to keep their children safe, experts say. The best way is asking: Are their guns in the home?

Nationally, about a third of households own guns, according to the Brady Campaign/Center to Prevent Gun Violence. In Indiana, studies have put the number at closer to 45 percent of all households. National studies find that in 40 percent of households with children younger than 18, the guns are not locked up.

No one disputes that ensuring guns are safely stored will go a long way toward preventing gun injuries involving children. That’s not all, said Dan Gross, executive director and co-founder of the New York-based Center to Prevent Youth Violence.

“You still hear a lot of folks out there espousing the philosophy that all we have to do as parents is educate our kids not to touch guns,” he said. “Another very real part of the solution . . . is us taking some responsibility ourselves as parents.”

His Center’s ASK (Asking Saves Kids) Program offers advice for how parents can navigate the somewhat thorny territory of raising this issue with another parent.

Statistics suggest that most parents could use help. While the center’s research shows that it has inspired about 20 million parents to initiate the conversation, Gross concedes that most parents don’t ask about guns in homes.

It’s a touchy subject. The Florida legislature recently passed a law that prohibited doctors from asking patients about guns in their homes. Last month a federal judge blocked the law, saying it violated the doctor’s free-speech rights. Because of the nature of this topic, experts recommend that when parents ask about guns in the home, they include other safety issues.

First, ask the other parent if it’s OK if you run through some concerns. Then ask whether a parent will be in the house; are knives or matches accessible; does the parent smoke; is there a pool, and, if so, how is it secured; if you’re the parent of a child with fur allergies, ask about pets.

Pose your questions in a clear and neutral voice so the other parent does not feel targeted on the gun issue, suggests Carol Juergensen Sheets, a behavioral psychotherapist with IU Health Physicians.

“These are hard questions to ask,” she said. “Clearly you have to ask the difficult questions to make sure your kids are safe.”

If a family says they have guns, but they keep them safe, you may want to probe further as to what they do, experts say.

“The fact that the gun is ‘hidden’ should not be on its own an acceptable solution,” Gross said.

Keep in mind that some people may not want others to know where they keep their firearms, Sheets said.

Nor can you assume that because a home has a gun displayed, it’s a working firearm, said Dr. Louis Kraus, a spokesman for the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

“I have seen families where someone has a Civil War rifle, that is up on the wall, that hasn’t been shot in a hundred years,” said Kraus, chief of child and adolescent psychiatry at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. “Someone sees it, and they take a negative reaction because it’s a gun.”

However, keep in mind that if a gun and ammunition are in the house, the children who live there likely know where they are, said Cory Drum, district coordinator of Educating Kids About Gun-Violence. His program, a partnership between the Marion County prosecutor’s office and Wishard Health Services, presents seminars on gun safety for youth throughout the city.

If a parent responds defensively, that may be a tipoff that you don’t want your child to play there, the experts agree.

“There are some people that are probably going to tell you that it’s none of your business,” Kraus said. “If they’re not willing (to discuss this), your child shouldn’t be playing over there. There are too many accidents every year.”

Instead, you may suggest that the child come over to your house to play, Sheets said.

Such conversations are old hat for Kimberly Wenig, a Northwestside mother to a 9-year-old boy and 11-year-old girl. She prefers to have the conversation face-to-face.

“It’s just something that, as a parent, I do,” she said. “I never make a big deal out of it. . . . At first, I found it a little uncomfortable, but then I thought if it ever gets someone to trigger in their mind, ‘Oh yeah, I need to double check,’ it was worth it.”

And she’s never had anyone object to being asked.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – Parents will childproof their home or take steps to prevent a fire. But most may not realize there are steps they can take to make sure their homes are suicide proof.

The Rhode Island Department of Health launched a statewide campaign to educate parents about how they can prevent tragedy.

The campaign, which is in conjunction with The Center to Prevent Youth Violence, centers mainly around limiting a child or teen’s access to firearms and prescription drugs.

“Simple, practical actions combined with providing a strong support network for teens can help keep kids safer,” said Director of Health Michael Fine, MD. “Suicide is the second leading cause of death for Rhode Islanders ages 15 to 24. Prescription drugs are one of the most common methods of intentional injuries for teens. Parents should keep prescription medications in a secure location and should safely discard any unused or expired medications.”

The Suicide-Proof Initiative includes television and radio public service announcements, as well as educational materials being distributed through partners such as pediatricians, family physicians, mental health clinicians and schools.

The campaign also includes a newly launched website, www.suicideproof.org, that features valuable information on how to suicide-proof your home and provides access to downloadable brochures and posters in English and Spanish.

For information about other suicide prevention efforts in Rhode Island, visit http://www.health.ri.gov/violence/about/suicide.