U.S. parents show increasing concern over gun violence: poll

NEW YORK, April 17 (Xinhua) -- Social pressures, bullies and academics are all things generations of U.S. children have had to worry about, but today, according to their parents, there's another worry weighing on most of them, too: the prospect of gun violence, according to a new CBS News/YouGov poll.

"It's increasingly on parents' minds, as well; concern among America's parents now is even higher than it was last summer," CBS News reported on Sunday.

"Today, 77 percent are at least somewhat concerned. Last year it was already high at 72 percent. Six in 10 parents say that their kids express worry over gun violence, either a lot or sometimes," the report said, citing results of the poll conducted April 12-14.

"While not as high as those perennial kids' concerns like bullying and social pressures, it is nonetheless true for most families in cities and suburbs; for those with higher and lower incomes; across racial groups; and in every region of the country. In short, the worry that kids have over gun violence is reported almost everywhere," it noted.

Americans overall report feeling "frustrated" over the political gun debate -- more so than any other descriptor they could pick, even more than "angry" and a lot more than "satisfied." And gun violence in particular does rank as a very important issue by nearly two-thirds of Americans, said the report.

"That frustration may be, in part, because most Americans don't see either political party as particularly effective in keeping people safe from gun violence," it added.