Tennessee has one of the highest overall rates of child homicide in the nation but ranks even higher for the rate of kids killed by guns: one out of every four children who died in 2021 was killed by a bullet.
New data released Monday by the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth provides a comprehensive portrait of the lives and deaths of Tennessee’s children and the economic and social forces that shape their childhoods, from poverty to educational achievement, access to healthcare and housing.
While child deaths by firearms are on the rise — Tennessee ranks 7th in the nation for children murdered by guns — youth in Tennessee are much more likely to be the victim of a firearm crime than to perpetuate one, the “State of the Child in Tennessee 2023” report notes.
In 2022, kids were perpetrators of 1,561 crimes involving firearms; they were victims in 4,490 firearm-related crimes, according to the report.
At the same time, the state’s largest cities — Memphis, Chattanooga and Nashville — all experienced a decline in the under-18 crime rate. Nashville and Memphis experienced some of the largest declines in youth crime in Tennessee, according to the report.
The report also noted that infant mortality from all causes has increased in Tennessee, after a slight decline between 2019 and 2022. Tennessee’s infant mortality rate of 6.6 per 1,000 surpasses the national average of 5.6 per 1,000.
“Our state does better when all children have access to the resources, supports and services they need to thrive,” said Richard Kennedy, executive director of the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth. “We hope this report can serve as a guidebook for where we as a state are getting things right and where we can focus our investment and attention to improve outcomes.”
Read the full report:
The State of the Child in Tennessee 2023
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