Juvenile Sanctions Are Outdated

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The first juvenile court was established in 1899 in Chicago as a byproduct of the Progressive Era Before this, anyone under the age of seventeen who committed a crime was placed in the same system as adults. However, by this time, social views had begun to change. With recent discoveries and research by psychologists, many started to see juveniles as youths who had simply lost their way, rather than as hardened criminals. It was believed that with proper structure and disciplinary guidelines instituted, a youth could be rehabilitated and become a productive member of society. The qualifications for what designates the focus of the juvenile justice system are to rehabilitate juveniles, rather than to imprison and punish them. The question…show more content…
To put more emphasis on how the combined justice system and juvenile sanctions are outdated I must share with you an experience I encountered the other night. I witnessed two juveniles individuals who have been convicted of previous crimes and placed on probation shoot and kill an innocent man in cold blood. If the youth were more focused on their probation and the consequences they probably wouldn’t have been able to be to commit this serious act of violence. The juvenile delinquents didn’t heed the warnings placed before them on behalf of the courts, due to the simple fact the courts outdated system is hard to comply with or keep account of the new millennium youth these days. The two juveniles were from a small town with a population of a few thousand in which the community and environment doesn’t set any positives goals for the youth to look forward too. At this time and age it is a dog eat dog world. You must have a survival of the fittest type mentality in order to survive in this society. After the incident I was focused on relaying the correct message to youth I work with everyday. As I talked with them today I couldn’t help but replay the events from Saturday night in my mind. Thus, allowing words to come out of my mouth I wouldn’t normally relay to them. Even though I was being brutally honest there isn’t room at this point for failure or hesitation. The youth I deal with everyday are our next governors, police officers, doctors, judges, vetenerian etc….so we must instill in them the right mindset along with the positive environment they need to
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