...Juveniles Tried as Adults As more minors are committing heinous crimes, the question of whether they should be tried as adults has arisen. Children as young as thirteen or fourteen are committing violent crimes such as murder, rape, and armed robbery with little to no remorse, and what punishment are they receiving? Some get tried as adults and the others are being tried as juveniles. A juvenile offender may receive a few years in a juvenile detention and maybe probation following their release at age eighteen. If an adult were to commit the exact same crime, they would most likely get a life sentence, with no chance of parole. The only difference between the two offenders is the age at which they committed the crime. Yes, teens who commit violent crimes should be tried as adults. In the article “Greg Ousley is Sorry for Killing His Parents. Is That Enough?” At age fourteen, Greg Ousley shot both of his parents, killing them. He admits to having planned the murder. Throughout the article, it is obvious that Greg Ousley after being in jail for sixteen years, regretted killing his parents. But even than just because he regrets doing it, does not change the fact that he did. He still deserves to complete his punishment. Regret means nothing especially after committing a brutal crime. A common argument is that teens should not be tried as adults because they are unfit for adult trial. According to the article “Many Kids Called Unfit for Adult Trial”, they don’t understand...
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...there are millions of people committing crimes, but the crimes committed by juveniles gets the most attention from the public. During the recent years, more and more teens get sentenced as an adult. They sent teens from the juveniles’ courts to the adult courts. Their crimes are viewed more harshly and critically, which explain the reason why they are being tried as an adult. Many people gave different kind of opinion on this kind of topic, whether or not teens get tried as adults. There are many articles that address this topic and their claim on this controversial topic. Some of the articles that review this matter are “Juveniles Don’t Deserve Life Sentence” by Gail Garinger, “On Punishments and Teen Killers” by Jennifer Jenkins, and “Kids are Kids- Until They Commit Crimes” by Marie Lundstorm. They both have their own opinions and knowledge on this topic. My position in this issue is juveniles don’t deserve to be tried as adults. There has been a relentless amount of fear in the public about juveniles making...
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...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...
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...At 15 years old you are not able to drink, drive, vote, or even see an R-rated movie by yourself because you are not classified as an adult. If this is the case, why are juveniles tried as adults when they commit a crime? Every year there is an estimated 250,000 youth tried in the United States as an adult. Although no crime should go unpunished, there are many contributing factors that states why a minor shouldn’t be sentenced as an adult. The fact that most adolescents become repeat offenders, they are not able to survive in prison, and the court is basically ruining their lives are just a few examples of why they shouldn’t be tried as an adult. To begin with, 66 percent of the youth in the United States that are sentencved to prison become...
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...Until justice is blind to age, until education is unaware of race, until opportunity is unconcerned with the color of men's skin, emancipation will be a proclamation but not a fact.-Lyndon B. Johnson I think Lyndon B. Johnson said it best how unfair and cold the world is, especially to teens. As most scientist and teens know the brains of teens are not fully developed. This is why we are reckless, careless, impulsive and, unaware of consequences. And, I think this is why teens should be treated differently than adults in a criminal court. Some people thinks teens should be tried as adults. Maybe because they have committed an adult crime. I say why treat them like adults now that they have done something wrong. But you don't want...
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...just instincts. Free to grow and add things to your canvas. Teens come to life pure as snow, our parents are our first mentors and teachers of life. They influence most of our actions growing up. Some have to face the harsh reality of a brutal life early due to the lack of shielding from parents, slowly our canvases are tainted into dark colors. The life of those unfortunate teens 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...
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...criminals are juveniles who are committing adult crimes. When being tried in the juvenile court system, they are receiving shortened sentences, and they are being released and given new identities to continue to go about their lives but the victims and their families of the crime are left to suffer without having justice served. By changing the way the court system sees juveniles, the United States can change their motives and approach to society. Minors should be tried as adults because everyone has control over their actions unless diagnosed with a mental disability, victims will not receive full justice, and lastly the young adults might not learn from their mistakes. When it comes to trying teens as adults, many say trying them as adults is to cruel and harsh of a punishment but instead to try them as juveniles instead, others say they must be tried as adults after committing an adult crimes. Younger induviduals should be held accountable for their actions and tried as adults. Children almost always know right from wrong even starting at young age. These young adults are usually always taught to talk or consult with...
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...decision on whether the juveniles deserve to be tried as adults, as far as accountability goes for juvenile justice, their wrongdoings should be evaluated and understood before a final decision is made to ensure that the right people are getting the help they need and deserve. As they are only teens who have yet to understand the real world and how it works, I believe that we need to understand the events leading to the crimes to truly get the whole picture of what, when, where, and why this minor committed such acts. We have failed many teens already with the system that's in place, for example: Kalief Browder, The Central Park Five. The one thing all these teens have in common is that we failed them and they had to find ways to grow up in cells instead of neighborhoods, schools, places that can provide structure to teens navigating the world, not in prison cells with grown adults who committed crimes....
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...Carolyn Crane Eng/215Ca January 8, 2016 Why Do Teens Smoke When They Know it Causes Cancer? Today there are still so many young people that start smoking. Some are as young as middle school but most are high school age. There is so much information that is available at our fingertips and still teens start smoking. Smoking causes many different health problems. Smoking causes cancers, stroke, heart disease and lung disease. Smoking is costly, highly addictive and it can kill you so why do young people still do it? Teens smoke because they want to look mature. They see their parents do it and many adults around them do it. They mimic what they see. It is usually forbidden by parents so it attracts their attention. Some teens want to rebel and so they try it. Other teens are pressured into it by their peers. The problem is they get addicted and they cannot stop. These teens grow up and become adult smokers. Three out of every one hundred middle school students have tried cigarettes and at least nine out of every one hundred high school students have tried them in the past thirty days. Teen use of tobacco in any form is unsafe. If smoking continues at the current rate among teens in this country, 5.6 million of today’s Americans younger than eighteen will die early from a smoking-related illness. That’s about one of every thirteen Americans aged seventeen years or younger alive today. Smoking cigarettes causes stroke and coronary heart disease which...
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...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...
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...The adolescent brain and the adult brain have many similarities and differences. A difference that Richard Knox explains in his article between the teen brain and the adult brain is the white matter coating your nerves. “That’s because the nerve cells that connect teenagers’ frontal lobes with the rest of their brains are sluggish. Teenagers don’t have as much of the fatty coating called myelin, or “white matter,” that adults have in this area. Think of it as insulation on an electrical wire. Nerves need myelin for nerve signals to flow freely. Spotty or thin myelin leads to inefficient communication between one part of the brain and another.” In other words, the reason teens' frontal part of the brain is slow is because they don’t have the...
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...made deals with the prosecutor, pleading guilty to second-degree murder and naming Andy as the triggerman,” but that was not the reason why he was convicted, but for being part of a carjacking at the time of Lohrmeyer’s murder. He got sentenced to life without parole. The decision of whether young criminals should be tried in juvenile courts or adult courts has created a lot of controversy throughout the years. Juveniles should be tried as juveniles. Being tried according to their age is fairer. A lot of people believe that age should not be considered at all when the felony is extremely severe. Justice needs to be served and they need to pay for the crime they have committed, juvenile or not. According to the Time magazine article ‘What Makes Teens Tick’ Dr. Jay Giedd states that “The very last part of the brain to be pruned or shaped to its adult dimensions is the prefrontal cortex, home of the executive functions.” An adult brain is different than teens, because an adult brain is more developed. Adolescents lack the ability to make good decisions, be more organized, and the ability for good planning. Juveniles should therefor not be treated as adults when sentenced to life without the possibility of...
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...major issue in your country today. Many people think to themselves what does bullying really mean. “Bullying is an unwanted aggressive behavior among school age children that involves a real perceived power imbalanced”. (Stop Bullying) Bullying happens all over our country and happens in many different places. Here are some examples of Bullying teasing, name calling, inappropriate sexual comments, taunting, and threating to cause harm. As you can see bullying has many different forms. Bullying does not have to be right in front of a person. People could be spreading rumors, bad-mouthing a person and that still considered bullying. Now a day with the technology children and teens are being bullied by the phone, texting, emailing and video recordings. Bullying does not only have to take place in our schools. It takes place with sport groups, youth groups and yes it does take place with our adults in the work place. Yes its true bullying does happen among adults also in the work force. It seems weird and wrong because we are all adults and should know better but it’s true it happens. Bullying is also taking place with our seniors in their groups, nursing homes and senior living facility’s. Being bullied has many effects on children and teens. Some might become depressed and think that they aren’t loved, which will also play a toll on them always feeling sad. Anxiety could also become a problem with a child or teen because they won’t want to go to school because they will fear about...
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...these fourteen to seventeen-year-olds are still being categorized as juveniles, and are therefore tried in juvenile courts where they do not get a satisfying punishment. Today society gives these juveniles the right to vote at the age of eighteen; the fact is that when society declares an eighteen-year-old as an adult is such a random standard to determine one’s maturity as far as their crimes go. “We used to deal mostly with kids breaking street lights and now routinely people are seeing rape and robbery” claimed Harry Shorstein, a state attorney for the Fourth Judicial Circuit in Jacksonville, FL. (Hunzeker)....
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...for adults and juveniles differs in many significant ways. An adult system is for eighteen and older who have committed a crime. The juvenile system is for young offenders who commit serious crimes. Adult offenders have to get a lawyer in order to meet a judge, and juvenile that is under eighteen needs to have their parents present to meet the judge. There are more crimes committed by juveniles. Some examples are school shootings, and murders. Sometimes kids commit a serious crime and are sent to adult prison. Two young girls who lured another twelve year old girl in to the woods, and stabbed her 19 times to please slender man. The two girls are being charged with first degree intentional attempted homicide. They are likely to be tried as adults and long prison sentences. These girls were only trying to please a fictional character who they thought was real and lived in the woods. They thought if they pleased slender man he would not come after them. The girls did not do this intentionally, they were doing it for their safety. Some people think we should treat them as adults and others think they are still kids whose brains are not yet fully developed. Adult courts tend to be more punishing, while juvenile courts tend to be more rehabilitative. Every state has their own laws and rules they make and follow. Each state is left up to their own devices on what to do. The district attorney has the power to charge a young defendant as an adult. Juveniles are not considered adults, crime...
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