Children Tried As Adults Essay

Should children who commit violent crimes be tried as an adult? This topic has had much controversy in the past years. Most have said these children should be tried as adults while others say they’re just children. My position is that children’s brains don’t fully develop until the age of 25. So these children who commit these crimes, don’t really understand the full extent of their actions. I'm not saying that these children should be let free, I'm saying these children should be tried reasonably because of their age. Not just thrown in prison, and another statistic, but helped with their psychological problems. In this paper, i'm going to talk about a 1998 case of, Maddie Clifton an 8-year old child who was killed by her 14- year old neighbor, Josh Phillips. Also, the case of Lionel …show more content…
This system should consider age and brain development, and the fact that these children don’t fully comprehend their crimes. Until, its too late, till after they have been in prison for 30 years. Lionel Tate has been in prison for about 15 years, if this man when he was convicted had gotten maybe sent to a juvenile facility and therapists and all that helpful things, instead of a life sentence he probably would have been a model citizen right now, Maybe with a family and a steady income. But instead he is sitting in prison with a 8th grade education and a broken psyche. It’s not fair that we throw the book at these children, and think that prison is going to help. Children who commit violent crimes should be punished but not as an adult. The statistics also show that children who are tried as an adult, once they get out are four times more likely to offend again within two years of being released. But if we deal with the child's issues right away instead of just putting them in prison. The United States could probably not only lower the crime rate but save other people from being