If teenagers want to start acting like adults, they should be treated as one. Juveniles have to learn from their mistakes and leaving them in the slammer for longer than when they turn 18 would make them learn. Most teens that commit a heinous crime then get released from juvenile hall are more than likely to bounce back to their old ways. It will only get worse. It has been studied before, that older gang members use younger teens to sell drugs and do other gang-related activities for them because they know teens won’t get as big of a punishment as adults.
Also because there has been too many incidents such as a fourteen year old child who was bullied in his school for years and he ended up hanging himself outside of his house. However it is not only children from schools that receive such terrible treatment from bullies but also teachers, bus drivers, and bus monitors. A you tube video was posted this year of students verbally abusing bus monitor Karen Klein while she was only doing her job as bus monitor. This video put a spotlight on how hard it can be to handle bullying. Karen Klein was interviewed by Good Morning America and she said that she does want to see the boys punished but does not expect for them to receive legal punishment.
Juveniles should not be tried as adults in any circumstance. Firstly, children do not have fully developed minds, like adults do which deters their ability of problem solving and reasoning. Secondly, it is a proven fact that adult facilities are not efficient punishments and juveniles sent to these are more likely to re-offend quicker. And finally, sending juveniles to adult centers will ruin their life. Speaker number 2 stated, and I quote, “Juveniles are well aware of the actions they make and should be tried as adults for their heinous crimes.” end quote.
The Adult Justice System Does More Harm Than Good. The rehabilitation system for juveniles is a must, to keep them from stepping into the vicious cycle of crime. To begin, the juvenile court was started over a hundred years ago. A basic theory motivating the juvenile court has been that all youth offenders need not go through the adult justice system. Therefore, the juvenile court was created to handle juvenile delinquents on the foundation of their youth instead of their crimes.
To begin, teenagers have an undeveloped brain that acts very similar to those of “seriously impaired” adults (Krikorian 39). According the article “Many Kids Called Unfit for Adult Trial…” by Greg Krikorian, “Thousands of juveniles tried as adults in the U.S. may be incompetent to stand trial because they are emotionally or intellectually unable to contribute to their own defense.” The brain of a teenager experiences major loss of brain tissue that controls their cognitive development, or the ability to control impulses, risk-taking, and self control (Thompson 45-46). This means that even though their accountability is not affected, teens still cannot control their erratic
Interventions such as SORNA, which call for labeling youth as sex offenders require them to re-register at regular intervals and thus reinforce the label, and notifying others of their status as sex offenders likely limit the opportunities that such youth have to participate in normal adolescent activities and limit the peer group that they can access. Although the negative impact of the labeling process has been argued, youths identified as troubled do experience rejection from most peer groups and from adults. Thus, youths registered as sex offenders are more likely to socialize with other troubled peers and are less likely to be involved and attached to social institutions such as church’s and schools because of limitations to their access. Those who steer clear of criminal behavior has been associated with attachment of school and other prosocial organizations and institutions that promote involvement in a prosocial peer group. Consequently, the effects of ongoing registration of adolescence well into their young adulthood, as called for in the Adam Walsh Act, are more likely the result of criminal behavior than the prevention of sexual
Vanessa Rodriguez Ms.Lockhart Research Paper Period 2 December 4, 2012 Juvenile Justice Essay It has been said that trying adolescents as adults is unfair and unjust. The “adolescent-as-child” view contends that adolescents are by nature substantially different from adults, and as such, separate legal rights and standards should be applied to address the differences of each age group. To understand the unfairness for trying teens as adults can be seen in past court cases. Also a kids age and intelligence impacts their defence in court. When a teen is being tried for accused crimes in which they are going to court for are judged in an unfair manner that results in their prison sentences.
This segregation is being put into effect in order to prevent juveniles from being sexually or physically assaulted and to prevent more dangerous juveniles from injuring the current adult inmates. Another reason why more juveniles should be tried as adults is because detention centers do not provide the offender with a harsh enough reality of their actions. Such was the case with and kid named Shawn. On Christmas night 1998, the sixteen year old attacked and repeatedly stabbed his father with a knife while he slept. Shawn’s home life seemed to be the reasoning behind the brutal crime since it had recently been disrupted by his habitual marijuana use, his recent expulsion from school, and arrest for strong arm robbery.
Some juvenile inmates come from broken homes, divorced families, deadbeat parents and are just trying to survive. Juvenile prisons need to be different from adult prisons, you can’t treat kids like adults, especially the younger juveniles. They need a role model to influence them positively, punishment but an emphasis on hope a better life more than anything. Adults still need hope, but if you’re still committing crime as an adult you’re either in the wrong place at the wrong
Through personal opinions and experience, kids up to seventeen should not be tried as adults, because even though they should know right from wrong at that age, there minds are still not fully developed to completely understand how serious the consequences. History tells it, a juvenile used to be held to the same standard as adults prior to the 17th century in Europe. Unlike today, it was said that Europeans thought that childhood ended at the age of five. If that statement was made today in our country, it would be nothing more then a laughing matter. That shows how much change our justice system in this world has gone through within the 18th and 19th century.