Mass shootings have terrified the citizens of our country more and more over the last decade. The horror of shootings in schools and movie theaters and other areas that were once mundane workplaces have appeared in major news outlets at an alarming clip. While these incidents grab significant attention, the issue of violence in America is even more widespread, with tragedies being acted out on a daily basis. In this country, a great percentage of these acts occur among youth. Particularly in the realm of gun violence.

Youth are known to live on the edge. Their penchant for engaging in risky behavior stems from several factors, including their search for a sense of belonging and identity, and a lack of foresight and understanding of consequences. In the past, this was accepted, written off even with statements like “boys will be boys.” But, upon further review, it seems we have crossed some invisible line of behavior that is tending toward more violence and wreaking havoc on our communities.

If one examines the “crime prone” population, it is curious that the demographics have changed since the late 1990s. While there has long been a recognized correlation between homicide rates and the percentage of youth in the population, the effect of the increasing number of children coming from the baby boomer generation, although predicted, was somehow underemphasized as a potential increase in gun violence.

Nowadays, an American under age 25 dies from gunshot wounds every 70 minutes. In the last five years, the second most frequent cause of death for people under 25 was homicide, and in 83 percent of cases, the weapon of choice was a gun.

The truth is, a teenager in 2015 is more likely to die of a gunshot wound than of all other diseases combined. Minority populations are overrepresented in the statistics, with young black males at highest risk; they are 4.5 times more likely to be killed by a bullet than their white peers, and gunshot wounds are the leading cause of death in that demographic. In addition, for every fatal shooting there are three other nonfatal gun incidents, resulting in physical, psychological and societal harm.

Youth are also disproportionately represented in the perpetration of violent gun crime. People under age 30 account for 65 percent of weapons arrests. As many as 10 percent of high school youth have reported carrying weapons in some studies. And 80 percent of them report getting the weapons from home or a relative or friend.

The key to unraveling this growing concern may be in the revelation that the mere availability of guns ups the ante by turning nonfatal confrontations into tragedies. In the past, fistfights and verbal altercations could be serious, but rarely left anyone dead. With guns in easy reach, the idea of conflict resolution has died off and left a legacy of tragedy in its wake. Each episode of violence between young people ruins lives forever. The grief of victims’ families cannot even be imagined by those who have blessedly not experienced it. However, they are not the only ones who grieve. Perpetrators and their families must mourn the life that could have been, without jail sentences and lifelong punishments, which, while justified, come with their own loss.

Estimates suggest that between victims and perpetrators, 1 million years of potential life are lost annually due to gun homicides. That is a devastating chasm for society to cross. In addition, the constitution was written at a time when protecting one’s home and family rested squarely on the shoulders of the homesteader. The interpretation of this constitutional right in the context of today’s society, while desperately needed, is a difficult road to navigate and will take time. With a young person dead every one to two hours from gun violence, waiting for the perfect solution may not be in society’s best interest.

So what can we do to stop this bleeding from youth violence and homicide? Many say the crux of the issue is the fact that Americans own more guns than any country in the world, and yet we have the most lenient gun laws. While this may indeed be true, gun legislation is a very complex labyrinth to navigate. It requires balancing this crisis of youth gun violence with the right to bear arms. Many will steadfastly invoke the constitutional right that allows them to protect themselves from harm despite the fact there is no data to support the claim that having guns increases safety for those who carry them.

One strategy may lie in patterns of recreation reminiscent of the “Afterschool Special” days. Youth violence follows some very predictable patterns. The prime time for youth violence tends to be between 3 and 8 p.m., rarely after midnight. In these post-school hours, there is significant idle time to be filled with solitary activities, such as video gaming or high-risk activities like drug use, gang membership, sexual activity and violence.

The insulation afforded by today’s interpersonal communication channels, such as texting and social media, also likely carries over to the realm of violence. Having to injure someone by hand may make the situation real; having a gun to psychologically distance one’s psyche from the consequence may make pulling the trigger easier in times of boredom and hopelessness.

Latchkey kids, while once a rare phenomenon, are now commonplace, with children living in homes that have been, at the very least, disrupted by single-parent dynamics and economic stress. Getting teens into programs that don’t offer unstructured free time, where they can be active with adult supervision and exposed to positive adult role models, may help mind the gap during the high-risk time of day.

The positive socializing aspects of neighborhood recreations centers, church-based programs and the extended family have dwindled with the evolution of modern society. Where are the boys and girls clubs going? How have we lost the force behind big brothers and sisters? Funding these types of programs may be a quicker step to impacting the violence than trying to reinterpret the constitution. Starting youth into these programs before they have gone down a road of violent behavior has the best chance of keeping them on the straight and narrow. As has been stated by others, it is easier and less expensive to build a child than to rebuild a teen who has strayed into high-risk and violent behavior. Society must, to some degree, take on the role of collective parenting, with each member taking some responsibility for supporting all of our children, not just the ones who live in our own house. A return to the models of old might just have some new outcomes.

Youth should not be ending up in graves or prison cells. They have so much talent and promise to bring to society, as well as energy and excitement that when properly channeled, could guide the future in a positive way. During the Renaissance, no great paintings were completed without years of tender loving effort. Our children are society’s works of art. They certainly are worthy of great care to bring them into adulthood, so that their entire beauty can be experienced by society.

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Ending the Epidemic of Youth Gun Violence originally appeared on usnews.com