A new study covering 2006 titled "The Grand Rapids Juvenile Offense Index Report" has found that most offenses committed by youth--defined as 8-16 years of age--in Grand Rapids are not criminal offenses. The report, completed by the city's Office of Children, Youth & Families in partnership with the Grand Rapids Police Department and the Grand Valley State University's Community Research Institute, found that 58% of juveniles who came in contact with law enforcement were involved in runaway investigations, curfew violations, or domestic violence situations. In a press release from the city that accompanied the report, Office of Children, Youth & Families administrator Lynn Heemstra "this report challenges local perceptions about our youth and helps promote further conversations within neighborhoods about what is really going on and what help is needed."

While the report suggests that popular perceptions of youth and criminality--which often intersect with race--are not accurate, portrayals of youth as "violent" or "criminal" remain commonplace in the media. A study conducted by the Media Mouse-affiliated Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy (GRIID) in 2001 titled "Too Often Victims or Perpetrators: Youth Representation on Local TV News" found that a majority of stories about youth are "negative" or "violence" based. Since that study, periodic news analyses conducted by GRIID as part of its "Dissecting the Local News (http://www.mediamouse.org/griid/dissecting.php)" feature have found stories that associate youth with gangs. In the Bay Area, a study found similar media portrayals of youth.