Bartholomew

Monday's tweet was not the first time

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Finkelhor and his co-authors shared a few theories on why violence against children has declined.

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PTSD from your ZIP code: Urban violence and the brain

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The results do mirror the larger trend that some sociologists call "the great crime decline." Rates of violence in general have decreased since the 1990s, and experts don't know exactly why.

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This was true even for children of low-income families who live in neighborhoods where violent crime rates are disproportionately high. Children of color also were safer, according to this study.

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"This study confirms what we have noticed from a variety of other sources that children's safety has improved since 2003," said Finkelhor, director of the Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire.

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"We often expect stress and dislocation that happens during a recession can exacerbate conflicts and crime and violence, but it seems not to have been the case for the most part in the most recent recession," said the study's lead author David Finkelhor.

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The recession didn't reverse the trend, and that's unusual. Historically, more violence and crime occurs during economic downturns.

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Principal fights gangs to save school

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Chicago violence spurs calls for action

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Professor: Violence decreasing worldwide

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Children, regardless of race or social class, are victimized at higher rates than adults, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Some children in this country also witness violence on a daily basis, which can have long-term psychological consequences.

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Researchers compared rates of 50 different types of violence and crime over time. Of those categories, 27 saw significant declines between 2003 and 2011.

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Instances in which children were the victims of crimes such as assaults or violence such as bullying have declined significantly, according to the study, which appears in the most recent edition of the JAMA Pediatrics.

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Despite all the national headlines about school shootings and other violence, life has actually gotten a lot safer for American children, according to a new study.

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"I haven't seen this get enough attention," Finkelhor said. And he makes a prediction: "We may look back at this era in a much more positive light than we feel about it now as we are currently going through it."

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"I think there is a kind of alarmism which tends to pervade a lot of coverage and certainly when I talk with my undergraduates, they think things are getting worse," Finkelhor said.

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Finkelhor said he thinks the findings hint at a broader trend that tends to get overlooked in the modern media landscape.

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"Behavior we see in childhood often continues into adulthood," Finkelhor said. In other words, if children of this generation experience less violence, in theory they will be less violent to the next generation, and so on.

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Both academics are hopeful that this positive trend can continue.

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That data are now being collected, Finkelhor said, so researchers should have a better understanding of violence and its impact on this age group in the future.