Should Juveniles Be Held Responsible For Violent Crimes Essay

Finally, I believe that by being rehabilitated the juvenile will have a better chance at life because eventually they will be back in society.

Juveniles should be tried as adults because they only serve a few years in prison for doing harsh things. Manuel Sanchez and John Duncan committed a bloody murder by shooting a man several times in the chest, and John and Manuel were only twelve years old at the time. For example, “ It was a brutal, callous, bloody murder. But what is even more shocking to people in the small Washington town of Wenatchee is that John Duncan and Manuel Sanchez are only twelve years old.” I found this information in the article “ Rethinking Juvenile Justice” ( John, 1). Instead of the boys

In today's society, there are many crimes going on. Adults are not the only ones that commit crimes. One issue today is that juvenile offenses and whether juvenile offenders should be tried as adults in criminal court. A common phrase that is often used in this case of young juveniles committing crimes is "Old enough to do the crime, old enough to do the time." This phrase should be cleared to people that juveniles are not adults, and with this being said it will not make them one. "It has redefined juvenile offenses by treating most of them as delinquent acts to be adjudicated within a separate juvenile justice system that is theoretically designed to recognize the special needs and immature status of young people and emphasize rehabilitation over punishment" (Steinberg). While juveniles should be responsible for their actions, and should be held accountable for the crime, then the juvenile justice system is design to determine the consequences. Youths are still minors and are less mature. They often face a lot of negative peer pressure. Therefore, juveniles should not be tried in courts as adults.

Minors that do serious crimes, like assault or drug trafficking, shouldn’t be charged as adults. Some people say,”Old enough to do the crime, old enough to do the time”,but sending them to an actual adult jail, will make them much more worse, rather then giving them the help they need. According to the Centres for Disease Control, young people who are charged as adults are nearly 35% likelier to be rearrested than those who are tried as juveniles. Minors tried as juveniles are less likely to be rearrested because, they get the help they need. The minors in a juvenile facility receive counseling and other support they need to turn their life around. From The New York Times Upfront magazine, a 17 year old who was charged for attempt of murder was send to a juvenile facility and really turned his life around, having a bachelor’s degree and planning to graduate high school.

Court systems are left with difficult decisions. A controversial decision courts are faced with today is whether or not juveniles are to be tried as adults. The increasing number of incarcerated children in adult jails raises questions as to why. Adolescents sentenced to prison are more likely to be abused, commit suicide, or reoffend, thus committing more serious offenses. The statutes requiring juveniles to enter adult prisons are inhumane and in-just. Nevertheless, sentencing children to adult prisons continues regularly today. When adolescents commit crimes, they should be tried as juveniles rather than adults.

Over the last few decades there have been more and more violent crimes committed by children and young adults. Some of these children are under the age of 15, committing violent crimes such as robbery, rape, murder, gang violence. Some of these children are being tried as adults while others are tried and punished as juveniles. A juvenile offender may receive a slap on the wrist being sentenced to house arrest or parole while others are being sent to adult prisons without the possibility of parole. An adult committing these same crimes would receive a more sever sentenced.

It is not right that today children can be tried as adults for the murder. Juveniles under the age of 18, who committed a murder should not be tried as adults simply because they are not. Minors are not fully physically and mentally developed, furthermore, very often the result of such causes is fault of parent who raised them and environment where they had to grow up. Merriam-Webster's Dictionary defines juvenile as physiologically immature or undeveloped. It is ridiculous to think that we can punish children who are not eighteen years old as adults. Just imagine putting 12 years old child in the jail with thirty-year-old man. We cannot talk about a minor as a formed personality.

The question to whether or not a juvenile should be tried as an adult for committing a crime is still quite complex. There are those that believe a crime is a crime and no matter who the person may be they shouldn’t be punished the same way as everyone else. Though other oppose that they shouldn’t be punished so harshly because it can severely fracture their mental health. Though there must be some other resolution to sentencing juveniles to life prison and therefore ruining their

There are many cases where juveniles have gotten their life ruined because they are convicted as being an adult. Juveniles should not be tried as adults no matter how severe the crime might appear,if and only if they did not plan the murder. There are many factors that drive a juvenile to commit a crime which they did not intend or plan. A teenager’s background is one of the major reasons why they behave erratically. The example they receive from their guardians at home has a major impactor effect as to how they think and act.

Every juvenile who commits a severe crime should be tried as an adult. Juveniles should understand the differences in between both good and bad. Most kids that are 15 and older are the ones committing the worse crimes, by that age they should understand the differences in between both good and bad. Every person in the world should be able to think before they do, being able to think before you do will help you understand what you're doing and help you understand the difference in between both the good and the bad. The parents of the juveniles should also understand that some crimes are severe and have severe punishments. Juveniles need to know that

In 2007, there were more than 200,000 minors/juveniles that were tried as adults (McCrea). This represents the current problem within the juvenile justice system well. This represents the problem because it shows how our system allows for hundreds of thousands of juveniles to be tried as adults. This is why I believe that juveniles should not be tried as adults. For one, the juveniles are not fully understanding of the consequences that are possible if they break the laws that they do (Redding). Also, while they are able to be tried as an adult in our current juvenile justice system, they are not allowed the rights that come with being an adult (McCrea). Lastly, juveniles are going through changes and putting them in jail can greatly affect them (Ortiz)

Juvenile should not be convicted as adults for violent crimes because juveniles lose brain cells and connections that are responsible for controlling impulses, risk taking, and self control. taking a child and putting them in a prison or jail can mess with their mental state and they will get so accustomed to that sort of environment that they will feel insecure and end up committing another crime just to get back to the comforts of a prison cell because they feel like an outcast. Some teens suffer from mental instability and because of that instability that teenager will not understand that they are committing a crime.

If a juvenile, over fourteen has the ability and willingness to commit a violent crime they should be tried and punished as an adult. A fourteen year old knows right from wrong. He (or she) is able to tell whether they are committing a crime. If a juvenile is mature enough to commit an adult crime, they should be treated as an adult, and punished justly according to the adult law. The difference in age in two people should not determine their punishment if they have committed the same crime under the same or similar pretenses.

Regardless of age, a killer is a killer. A killer can be the daily customer you have at your job or the child you’re babysitting. “The Supreme Court justices would be wise as well as compassionate to strike a balance: Make juvenile offenders responsible for their actions but don't completely rob them of hope. And this should apply not only to the inmates who were 14 at the time of their crimes but to the remaining 2,497 who were 15 to 18 years old,” (Ellison 19). Kids make mistakes all the time, that doesn’t mean we should take their life away from them. With overlooking the listed factors in court when sentencing a juvenile, this will improve the number of children in prisons. Not all of these children partake in the act because of evil, but merely because of

Children have been described as our future, our greatest resource, and our hope for a better tomorrow. For many Americans, though, children invoke fear. They represent violence, a segment of society lacking in self-control and devoid of ethics and morals, and the failure of the family to instill traditional values, top among them being the value of human life and respect for others.