President Bush stated "When America teaches her
children right from wrong and teaches values that
respect life in our country, our country will be
better off". This quote was released after a 15-
year-old boy shot and killed two classmates and
injured 13 at a high school near San Diego,
California. He will be charged as an adult under
state law.
I firmly believe that in cases of felonies such
as murder or arson committed by juveniles over the
age of reason, those juveniles should be tried as
adults. The ability to know the difference between
right and wrong is defined by as the age of reason.
In some states, they overlook the age of reason and
imply that juveniles under the age of 18 be tried
as adults for serious crimes and serve longer
sentences for the type of crime committed.
Some people who oppose trying a juvenile as
an adult may come to the conclusion that young kids
do not realize the finality of death when
committing murder.
US incarceration timeline
Burning Money is Financial Crime and Waste in Chin...
Justice (Dike, on the left) and Divine Vengeance (...These people would argue that
since a juvenile does not directly know a person
then he doesn't understand that this person is a
human being. The juvenile may not consider the fact
that the victim may have a family and friends just
like themselves.
I disagree with this argument because the
juvenile understands that he is taking a life and
taking a life is not only wrong but cruel. Not
severely punishing this young adult could lead to
more criminal activity and convictions due to the
belief that punishment will be less severe because
they are a juvenile. If the state does not punish
the juvenile as an adult for the first severe
crime, then certainly the next time that same
juvenile commits another criminal act, the court
system should consider adult punishment.
Some other people would argue that the court
should punish the parent and not the juvenile.
How can parents control every action of their
child? By the age of sixteen, most teenagers have
their own cars, have gained much more freedom,
and can make many more decisions without parental
guidance. Saying that parents are the only ones
that can influence their child to make decisions is
not fair. Even though some parents are physically
or even mentally abusive to their child, that does
not condone the child to take out their anger on
someone else. Parents are not the only ones that
can influence a child, but teachers, coaches, and
most importantly friends are the ones that can
influence juveniles to make decisions whether they
be good or bad.
I believe that if courts were to punish
juveniles as adults for felonies committed, then it
would defer other juveniles from committing crimes.
The peer pressure to commit such crimes wouldn't be
there knowing that the punishment would be much
more severe. As a result, crime rates would
decrease. Not only would punishing the juvenile as
an adult save the public from one criminal but you
could save us from many criminals being created and
pressured into illegal activity throughout the
United States. Many adolescents would have more
caution to what they did and think about the severe
consequences before they break a law.
One of the biggest issues of this argument is
the death of a loved one. The loved ones of
somebody killed by a juvenile want that young adult
to be punished as an adult. They do not want for
the juvenile to be convicted and then let out of
jail at the age of 18. If they believe this person
knew the justifications for their actions then they
would want for them to have a lifetime to think
about their mistake. They wouldn't want for this
person to have another chance of hurting someone
else or even committing the same crime. Justice
is what people would want and expect to get at the
expense of a loved one's life.
Finally, there are others who are opposed to
juveniles being tried as adults and would say a kid
is a kid, and not an adult, and should be punished
according to their age. I would debate that by
asking the question; is a 17-year-old murderer
considered a kid? There has to be point where a
person's age shouldn't have that much effect on the
outcome of a crime. Whether they are 17 or 30, they
still must receive the same punishment. I would
assume if a juvenile killed one of your family
members or friends then you wouldn't want the court
to consider them only a kid.