According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, there were approximately 21,840 injuries from BB guns, pellet guns, air rifles, and paintball guns in 2000. Each year about 3.2 million such weapons are sold as toys in stores across the country. Learn more in the new American Academy of Pediatrics report, "Injury Risk of Nonpowder Guns."

Nonprofit and non-partisan, Voices for Virginia's Children is a persistent voice of reason in advocating for better lives and futures for children. The Commonwealth's only statewide multi-issue organization advocating for children and youth, Voices promotes sound, far-reaching program and policy solutions, focusing on early care and education, health care, family economic success, and foster care and adoption.

Voices for Utah Children promotes sound, far reaching program and policy solutions that focus on early care and education, health care, child welfare and violence prevention.

The Texas Kids Count project is working to build a better understanding of the conditions facing all children in Texas. The Center for Public Policy Priorities is now hosting a comprehensive database of indicators of child well-being. The data are used to produce fact books and other analyses on the status of children in Texas. In addition to the fact books, the Texas Kids Count Project is producing a series of special reports.

The mission of the D.C. Children's Trust Fund is to foster the well-being of the District's children and their families by leading the way toward the prevention of child abuse and neglect. The Trust serves as a catalyst for prevention efforts by leveraging private and governmental resources, providing resources and technical assistance to community-based organizations, schools, and churches to strengthen families and thereby reduce the risk of child abuse. A major objective of the Trust is to define and develop standards for primary prevention for the D.C. community at-large.

For public authorities to make reasonable decisions on gun control and ownership policies, they need reliable data, but this National Academies' National Research Council report says current research and data are too weak to support strong policy conclusions. For example, in the thirty-four states with right-to-carry laws, the committee "found no credible evidence that such policies either decrease or increase violent crime." Similarly, there is no credible evidence that the more than 80 gun violence prevention programs reviewed by the committee have had any effect on children's or teens' attitudes, knowledge, or behavior regarding firearms.

The General Accountability Office (GAO) reports that most recalled food is not recovered and therefore may be consumed because of weaknesses in the USDA and FDA recall management procedures.

A National Institutes of Health panel reports that punitive "get tough" approaches that try to scare young offenders away from violent behavior - boot camps, group detention centers, or putting young people in adult jails - may actually worsen the problem.

Make sure sticks and swords are not too long or sharp. Put reflective tape on costumes. Let young children mark up pumpkins with magic markers instead of carving. These are some of the suggestions for a safe Halloween from the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Want to stop bullying? We've gathered some resources to get you started.