Violence
From That was then, this is now
What the author thinks
The author thinks fighting is bad as for people get injured, their feelings hurt, and they could die.
Violence from the book
Theres violence in the book when M&M was getting jumped in the alley by the bar and Bryan and Mark jump in to help. Charley getting shot in the head. Mark getting beat up.
Crime Rate
"The FBI released Crime in the United States, 2013 today, which shows that the estimated number of violent crimes in 2013 decreased 4.4 percent when compared with 2012 figures, and the estimated number of property crimes decreased 4.1 percent. There were an estimated 1,163,146 violent crimes reported to law enforcement last year, along with an estimated 8,632,512 property crimes."
http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2014/november/crime-statistics-for-2013-released/crime-statistics-for-2013-released