Yet the law fails to distinguish between adolescents/children and adults when it comes to spending the rest of their lives in prison for crimes they have committed before their 18th birthday. Adolescents/children who break the law must be held accountable, however we cannot give up on the possibility that a still developing young person will reform. Justice and financial responsibility both demand a more thoughtful approach. When adolescents/children commit crimes, does he/she instantly become an adult? Or does he maintain some of his/her childhood, despite his/her actions?
Should the Teenage Driving Age Be Raised? The age at which you can legally drive varies from country to country, but in many places it is lower than 18. In most American states it is 16 or younger. Usually you are allowed to take a driving test a year or more before you can even vote. As young drivers are the ones most likely to have accidents, from time to time there are calls to raise the driving age.
The law considers youth crimes to be less culpable than adult, therefore juvenile punishment should not be as severe as those available for adults, even for the exact same crime.” The punishment of a 14 year old, Arkansas teenager who wasn’t the triggerman at a video rental store that he and his robbed was fair. Even though he wasn’t the one who pull the trigger, that kill the cashier, Under Arkansas felony-murder law, he was tried as an adult for aggravated murder and, under state law, received a mandatory sentence of life without parole. Youth that doesn’t have the bond or lack of positive influence are likely to commit violent crimes. According to, (Laub, 1983), “Indicates that the economic isolation of inner-city neighborhood, along with the concentration of poverty and unemployment, lead to an erosion of the formal and informal controls that inhibit delinquent behavior”. Their environment plays a
Accidents are caused by multi-tasking, Teens are easily distracted while driving by cell phones, the radio or even something simple as a friend talking to you. Which results in the poor choices in decision making and risky behaviors of youngsters behind the wheel, that will cause them to evaluate risk incorrectly. At the age of 16 years old students don’t have the mind capacity to drive and make responsible decisions. Although some young teenage drivers can drive responsibly and safely the roads will be a lot safer with a higher minimum driving age. Most teens at least 18 years old will have had more opportunities to learn an actually benefit from experience.
(12) One may argue that fourteen years is too young for one to be tried as an adult. In “Many Kids Called Unfit for Adult Trial…,” Greg Krikorian presents information regarding competence of juveniles’ and their understanding of the severity of their crimes mostly between the ages of eleven and fifteen. (1) A majority of people in today’s society would believe that trying minors as adults is too harsh of a punishment because, as Lundstrom states in her article, “Kids are Kids,” that “they’re only kids,” (4) and “they are not adults.” (15) But multiple people have proven that children do have enough common sense to understand the austerity of their crimes. For instance, in Adam Liptak’s article, “Renee Magee, who prosecuted Mr. Acuna, now 18, agreed that his behavior at the trial had alienated the jury. ‘He was very nonchalant,’ Ms. Magee said, ‘He laughed at inappropriate things.’” (5) Mr. Acuna understood the court and was entertained by his sick and highly disturbing action; the murdering of his elderly
Several ideas such as more distractions in the form of technology in the car and on the road, a lack of maturity and experience, and the fact that young people are more likely to be in a fatal car accident are all valid reason to raise the legal driving age. Some people do not believe age plays a factor in the ability to drive a vehicle by themselves without adult supervision. In a high school newspaper, Nowak (2004) said that “Raising the driving age would just make inexperienced drivers older and would solve nothing” (as cited by Yee, 2004). This is a good point, however, it is shown that the leading cause of death for 15-20 year olds is, in fact, auto accidents (Insurance Information Institute, 2015). Now why is this?
Several ideas such as more distractions in the form of technology in the car and on the road, a lack of maturity and experience, and the fact that young people are more likely to be in a fatal car accident are all valid reason to raise the legal driving age. Some people do not believe age plays a factor in the ability to drive a vehicle by themselves without adult supervision. In a high school newspaper, Nowak (2004) said that “Raising the driving age would just make inexperienced drivers older and would solve nothing” (as cited by Yee, 2004). This is a good point, however, it is shown that the leading cause of death for 15-20 year olds is, in fact, auto accidents (Insurance Information Institute, 2015). Now why is this?
(Photo #23 in the Robert Yager photo series illustrates the inappropriate behavior of Mexican gang members toward their children because) The vast majority of parents try to keep hazardous things away from their children yet this photo shows the opposite condition. It seems that Mexican gang members do not really care about their child’s safety. For instance, the photo presents drugs and guns, which are obviously inappropriate to put close to an innocent child. Undoubtedly, guns are harmful for children. They may kill themselves as they do not know the real function of guns.
More so, a teenagers body is not matured enough mentally, nor physically, to execute decisions that hold another person’s life, or freedom at stake. In greater depth, if eighteen year olds could buy alcohol, they would be driving their underage friends around at wee hours of the night. Thus, risking them curfew tickets, possibly even letting an unlicensed, underage driver, be enabled to drive his friends around and put them at a greater risk, just because the designated driver was too intoxicated. Lastly, if some grown-ups cannot even drive, or function under the influence, how could a teenager manage? Secondly, teenagers at the age of eighteen have a lot of unfamiliar responsibility coming their
Hannah Mr. Elenbaas Advanced Composition 8 January 2014 Should Minors be Tried as Adults? There is much controversy over the issue of whether a child should be tried as an adult if convicted of a violent crime. Minors are starting to watch adults who are doing violent crimes, and they think it might be okay if they do it too. But does this mean we can punish minors like adults? Minors should not be tried as adults because they have not experienced the world like adults have, and they are not competent enough to go through or understand a trial.