18 To 24 Year Olds Should Never Be Tried As Adults Essay

While some people believe that 18 to 24 year olds should never be tried as adults, I believe that they should. By the time you hit 18, you have lived and learned enough to know what’s right, and what’s wrong. All your life, you’ve grown up learning do’s and the don’ts of pretty much everything. While they may not have been as extensive as they are today, they are still things that we should have carried on with us into our later years of life. Almost everyone looks forward to the day that they turn 18. It’s the nationwide transition from childhood to adulthood, meaning you are now legally an adult. You can now stay out past that pesky 11 o’clock curfew that you used to dread, your job opportunities have widened and finally, people will treat you as an adult. Well, you know, except …show more content…
They should know what’s right and what wrong, end of story. No matter how they grew up, it’s common knowledge. Don’t murder, don’t steal, don’t rape. Whether someone’s brain is fully developed or not, they should know those things. Being an adult means you should be able to make adult decisions. So if we’re legally labeling these people as adults, but not trying them as adults, are they even adults? Giving them this “get out of jail free card” sounds a bit like “we’re just going to overlook what you’ve done because you’re brain isn’t fully developed yet”. Try grabbing a random 18 to 24 year old off the street and telling them that they’re no longer considered an adult because they’re brain isn’t fully developed yet, they’re most likely going to be outraged and spew off a list of things that make them an adult. Now tell them that they won’t be tried as an adult because of the same reason. This time around, they’ll most likely approve and be ‘A-Okay’ with it. I mean, you are giving them the impression that they can do anything and get away with it on lesser charges than any other adult. Kind of scary to think about, don’t you