...Should Teens Be Tried as Adults? In 1944, George Stinney Jr. was the first 14-year-old to be sent to an adult prison. He was accused of murder and sentenced to death almost a year later. Juvenile delinquents should not be sent to adult prison systems because their brains are not fully developed as to that of an adult, they are at high risk of physical harm at the hands of other inmates, and might later be denied employment due to an adult criminal record. Around 250,000 teens are tried or sentenced as adults in the U.S.A. every year, and nearly 10,000 per day. As a matter of fact, the majority of these teens are charged with non-violent offenses. Teens should not be tried as adults because their brains are not fully developed. American Academy...
Words: 451 - Pages: 2
...Delinquency December 3, 2014 Juveniles in The Adult Prison Children as young as 14 years old have been tried as adults and are sentenced to die in prison without considering their age and the factors that led the individual to commit the offense. Society believes that a juvenile should be tried as an adult because it will help them understand the consequences of their actions, however, children and teenagers that commit crimes are too young and they don’t have the mental ability to understand the consequences of their actions. These juveniles are not aware of what they are going to face behind the adult’s prison bars. According to the National Juvenile Justice Network, it states, “ 200,000 youths are tried, sentenced, or incarcerated as adults every year across the United States.” Studies have shown that juveniles that are sentenced to adult prisons are more likely to commit crimes again after being released from prison. Juveniles are more likely to be sexually assaulted, abuse, neglect, suicidal, and depressed in adult prisons. The adult prison has shown failures to rehabilitate these juveniles. Laws like the Felony Murder rule has to shown to be cruel and unusual punishments towards teenagers and children. Society does not bothered to look into factors such as the juvenile’s brain, mental disability, and their living environment that causes them to commit the crime. “Children are five times more likely to be sexually assaulted in the adult prisons than in juvenile facilities,” according...
Words: 1351 - Pages: 6
...Juvenile Justice There is an argument between the idea of juveniles being tried as adults and being tried as juveniles. Furthermore, juveniles should be tried as adults only and only if the crime is heinous. Justice Elena Kagan stated that “ Mandatory life without parole for a juvenile precludes consideration of his chronological age and its hallmark features- among them, immaturity, impetuosity, and failure to appreciate the family and home environment that surrounds him- and from which he cannot usually extricate himself- no matter how brutal or dysfunctional. “. She believes that for this reason they shouldn't be tried as an adult.She argues that a juvenile’s upbringing and their environment is a big factor into their decision making. Kagan believes that Greg Ousley didn't mean to kill his parents. That he was only doing it by the actions that his parents treat him. In “Kids Are Kids - Until They Commit Crimes” they discuss how kids are influenced by the violence and negativity displayed on our daily entertainment. Paul Thompson did a study on the adolescent brain and how they are affected. He talks about how teenagers lose brain cells because they are influenced by the risk taking...
Words: 539 - Pages: 3
...Philippines is 18 and people in the country wonder whether or not is the right call. At the age of 18, Filipinos has the right to vote. If an 18 year old can make up their mind as to who the potential leader of the country should be then, they should have every right to purchase and drink alcohol. The majority of the world has their legal age set at 18 and if you are old enough to be regarded an adult by society, you are old enough to have the same rights afforded to you. Introduction Teen drinking is on the rise. By the age of eighteen the law recognizes these young people as adults, they can be tried as an adult in the law, parents signatures are no longer necessary, and it is assumed you are mature enough to make sound decisions regarding things such as alcohol. Alcohol is abused heavily by teenagers across the nation. As they grow older their alcoholism grows worse and worse. The effects of teenage drinking affects many aspects of your body and mental state that it can lead to risky behaviours. DISCUSSION In the Philippines, although there is an age limit for purchasing alcoholic beverages it is estimated that 60% of young people will have at least tried alcohol before then. Hard liquors and beers can be easily buy in convenience stores by teenagers under the minimum legal drinking age or got them from some of their older friends and family members. However, “while there may be no official statistics available, the consequences of alcoholism are very obvious in the community...
Words: 1012 - Pages: 5
...“At 18? At 21? Should you be able to fight in a war before you can rent a car? Is it cruel to sentence a teenager to life without parole? Why are our laws and rules on this issue so inconsistent, and how do they affect you?” Contrary to what most americans believe the age of responsibility should be at least 21. I believe the age of responsibility should be 25 because the most important part of the brain the cerebral cortex (which is resposile for decision making) is not fully developed until your mid 20s around 25. We should not give these kids and even “adults” the responsibility until the decision making part of their brain is developed. Not all people under this age will make bad decisions but it would be a lot safer and i believe we would have a lot less accidents and casualties because the decision making part of their brain will be fully developed so they will not make that one dumb deciosion that could end another life....
Words: 583 - Pages: 3
...Juveniles should not be imprisoned for life without the possibility of parole! In the Frontline documentary “When Kids Get Life” we are introduced to 5 cases in Colorado where teenage boys had been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Over 2,200 juveniles have been convicted of crimes and sentenced to life without parole in the 46 states of which have judicial waiver laws. Nathan Ybanez, Trevor Jones, Jacob Ind, Erik Jensen and Andrew Medina are the teenagers profiled in the documentary. The documentary shows five cases that dealt with felony murder. “The rule of felony murder is legal doctrine in some common law jurisdictions that broadens the crime of murder in two ways. First, when an offender kills accidentally...
Words: 888 - Pages: 4
...not the primary perpetrators of the crime, and may not have even been present at the time someone was killed. Many juveniles are sentenced to life at a young age for committing crimes that don’t deserve life sentences. They are still young and they make mistakes. With that being said they should be able to have time to grow and rehabilitate to become better. Since they are young their brain isn’t quite fully developed as adults. They deserve a second chance. Most juveniles are peer pressured and are influenced by things that they see and they don’t really know how to get out of the...
Words: 913 - Pages: 4
...Children should never be tried as adults in any court of law. It has been a large and heated debate about if adolescents should be able to be tried as an adult for adult crimes. One side of this argument is that if a teenager commits an adult crime, they should be sentenced reflecting the crime and not the age. Whereas others believe that if a child does not have the same legal rights and responsibilities as adults, they should not be held to adult standards in this case either. In this paper I will explain the disadvantages and inhumanity of this injustice toward our future by using facts, statics, and blogs. In the 18th century, children as young as seven could be tried as adults, in criminal courts, in America. These children were jailed with adults because the first institution designed to accommodate children wasn’t established until the year 1825. The Society for prevention of Juvenile Delinquents founded the New York House of Refuge, which prompted other states to follow their examples by building group homes and half way houses for child offenders. The first juvenile court wasn’t established until the year 1899 in Cook County, Illinois. It took until the year 1925 for 48 out of the 50 states to found juvenile courts as well. An amendment in 1980, mandated that juveniles could not be placed in adult jail, with few exemptions. But these exemptions were later used as loop hole,” In the 1990: almost every state passed laws making it easier to try juveniles in adult criminal...
Words: 1147 - Pages: 5
...Children in the United States who commit serious crimes are no longer being tried as juveniles but are being tried as adults and are getting life in prison. Kids as young as the age of 13 are being given life in prison with no opportunity at a second chance. The court systems are failing to recognize that these juveniles have their whole lives ahead of them.. Juveniles in the United States deserve second chances; they are not old enough or fully developed to know any better. Juveniles in the United States who are sentenced to life in prison still deserve a second chance at life, even if they commit a serious crime. Children in the United States, especially younger kids, are easily influenced by media and what type of home environment they live in because of their age. Kids tend to copy what they see, that means if they see something they should not be doing around them or on media, there is a chance that they will replicate it. The way children learn and behave is drastically different from the way adults do, which is why they should not be tried as adults and get sentenced to life. Children have the potential to change more than adults do. While kids are young they view the world differently. As Garinger mentioned adolescents are “less...
Words: 897 - Pages: 4
...average of 7,500 youth are incarcerated in adult jails. This subject is given little attention by the public, despite the horrific consequences of being tried in an adult criminal justice system and incarceration in an adult jail. Youth who are placed in adult jails are at a greater risk of physical and sexual assault. I believe juveniles under the age of 18 should not be treated as adult criminals because placing youth in the adult criminal justice system puts their safety at risk, restricts their necessary education and crucial health development, and increases the likelihood of violence and re-offending. Placing youth in adult jails most likely result in inimical situations and it is extremely difficult to prevent these events from occurring. By housing young offenders in the same facilities as adult criminals they are presented as the easiest preys which result in physical and sexual assaults. For example, according to the U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics, in 2005 and 2006,...
Words: 826 - Pages: 4
...common among underage teenagers and young adults. Unfortunately, the abuse has led to many effects that are ignored in the onset of alcohol drinking. Many underage individuals view alcohol drinking as cool or edgy, therefore making them feel like adults while consuming. They also feel that immersing themselves in alcohol will make their problems a less of a concern. They forget that it could lead to addiction, family separation, irresponsibility and other possible effects. The context of this paper will focus on the effect of addiction among the underage individuals and how to handle the problem. It will also concentrate on the costs of the change to...
Words: 1141 - Pages: 5
...an Adult In the United States there are a lot of crimes being committed by youth, most of these crimes are serious enough for these children to be charged as an adult. These children are being over charged. They are still children just committing adult crimes. When these youth are tried as adults it exposes these juveniles to state prisons without parole and even execution. In addition, it is over 2,500 child offenders serving life without parole in United State prisons for crimes committed before they 18th birthday. Therefore, youth should not be tried as adults because they are being over charged for these crimes. One reason that youth should not be charged as adults is that it’s just a double standard on these children. These juveniles don’t have full brain development to even know the outcome of the crimes committed. The thing about youthful offenders is that no one seems to care about them. Most people don't like the youth of America, even the good ones can be unpleasant. Combine the feeling they have toward the average teenager with the fear inspired by youth violence, and you have a population that no one wants to deal with. There is a disturbing trend of increasing violence among young people. "Uniformly in our communities, more young people are engaging in dangerous behavior. As a result of that, more prosecutors and the citizens generally seem to be exerting more pressure to charge these youths as adults. (Judge...
Words: 602 - Pages: 3
...mold them, every aspect of them. Without realizing malice is being nurtured in the darkest corner of their thoughts, inevitably teens like this that go on without help will likely turn to crimes. Some of these teens commit horrendous crimes and the question is, what should the justice system do? Some individuals will suggest treating them as adults since they were aware of their crime but is that the right punishment? Should society just disregard humanity and lock these teens up for the good of everyone else? While I believe teens that commit heinous crimes should be punished I also strongly believe their age should be put into account when deciding their punishment. Teens although they’re aware of their actions are still lacking growth in their brain. “Frontal lobes, which inhibit our violent passions, rash actions, and regulate our emotions, are vastly immature throughout teenage years.”(Thompson, Paul 7). The study that Thompson’s research group conducted gives some insights as to what happens to the brain during teenage years, teens like this might make conscious mistakes that they will regret later. Even though heinous can not be justified by this research, it truly is important to understand that teenagers that are emotionally stressed might act out without having enough willpower to hold back. Who will stand up for these teens? Not many people want to be on the side of...
Words: 1031 - Pages: 5
...Lowering the voting age is… One reason the voting age should be lowered is it would increase voter turnout. Aside from more ballots being cast, lowering the voting age would teach Americans at a young age on how to vote and why it is important which will increase voter turnout immediately and in the long run. Many other countries have lowered the voting age and it has proven to increase voter turnout. Lowering the voting age would also increase voter turnout among parents. Families will be engaged in conversation and parents will be urged to vote due to the enthusiasm of their children. Another reason the voting age should be lowered to sixteen is how stationary teenagers are. At age eighteen, most young adults leave the home and community...
Words: 399 - Pages: 2
...Should the Legal Drinking Age be lowered to 18? Ryan A. Conklin is a soldier who enlisted into the Army at the age of 17. He was deployed to Iraq when he was just 20 years old. In his book, he wrote about his daily duties of a soldier in Iraq and all of the sights and sounds that he witnessed. He makes a comment in his book about the drinking age in the United States. He states “I was twenty years old, and on April Fools’ Day, I would turn twenty-one finally legal to drink in a bar. Unfortunately, I was two-and-a-half years into serving my country and was living in a combat zone, and I found it odd that until then I was still not allowed to drink alcohol in the States. A law I hope will be changed in my lifetime.” Different cultures and societies respond different to alcohol in terms of how much they can drink and what their bodies can handle. The legal age to consume alcohol in the U.S. should be lowered to eighteen for the sake of the people, the economy, and safety. When a male or female turns the age of 18, they now reserve the right to serve in the military. When war broke out with Iraq, people were chosen to go over that just turned the age of 18. In the book “An Angel in Hell” by Ryan A. Conklin, he stated “he would always wake up hoping that that day was not the last day he would be on this Earth. He was always on high alert while on patrols, dodging bullets and shooting his own gun just to stay alive.” He also said, in his book, “that he found it odd and annoying...
Words: 1623 - Pages: 7
