Ignorance Of Adolescents Essay

Improved Essays
Ignorance of Adolescents When an adolescent commits a serious crime that results in the killing of an individual, is it correct to take the adolescent’s life? Many teens had their lives taken away because of one “stupid mistake”, committing crimes because they could not keep their impulses, and emotions in check. These kids are acting under circumstances they could not control, circumstances that can influence them greatly. Some say that no crime should be left unpunished, but should these kids truly be sentenced as adults? In America, adolescents can be charged as adults if they committed serious crimes. Many of these young adults who have been sent to jail have changed for the worse. Life in prison is not meant for the undeveloped brain …show more content…
Young people who commit violent crimes should not be sentenced as adults because they do not have the same rights as an adult, they do not have a fully developed brain, and giving them a prison sentence, or a death …show more content…
It is heavily debated on why these kids are charged as adults when they cannot do many things that adults can do. If age 18 is the age where you are considered an adult in society, why change it when it comes to crimes? If minors were to be charged as adults, they should also lower the age limits to certain adult things. It almost seems like they are making it easier for people to prosecute juveniles as adults. “It’s why they can’t smoke, or drink, or go to R movies without our OK. It’s why they don’t vote. It’s why they have curfews. It’s why we fret over their internet access and fuss about driving privileges” (Lundstrom 43). The same reasons why kids can not vote, work for full time, is similar to the reasons why they should not be convicted as adults. It is immoral to have an incompetent child defend himself in court. They are not ready, and they do not understand much of the real world

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    The decision to end a life must be absolutely and without question warranted. If society acknowledges and takes mercy on mentally impaired offenders, the same courtesy should be extended to adolescents who experience the same type of diminished capacity. In order for a juvenile to be sentenced to death, they must first be tried as an adult, but they are not an adult. Adolescents don’t have the same brain maturity, emotional maturity or life experience as adults do. The juveniles who commit the crimes that could land them on death row are missing something in their lives.…

    • 1000 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Consequently, they are more prone to risk taking and peer influence than adults; they think less about their future and express their emotions in more volatile ways. The juvenile system recognizes this distinct adolescent nature, and allows for recovery through developmentally appropriate programs, making young adults under eighteen better suited for the juvenile system rather than the adult system. However, when young law-breakers murder or rape someone, it is much more difficult call on whether they should be tried as adults or juveniles. The decision should be made on a case-by-case basis, depending on the severity, motive, and nature of the crimes. For example, a sixteen-year-old boy murdering his father to protect his sister warrants a different analysis than a case of a remorseless sixteen-year-old boy who murdered a mother and her two young children to steal a car.…

    • 413 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Should Juveniles Be Sentenced to Life Without Parole? When adults commit crimes, they are held accountable; but what if a teenager or child commits the same crime? On June 25, 2012, a controversy heated in the Supreme Court between the majority and 4 judges. The majority of the judges believes that it shouldn’t be mandatory for juveniles to be sentenced to life without parole when they commit a heinous crime such as murder, while the other 4 judges oppose to that, saying it should be mandatory for juveniles to be sentenced to life without parole.…

    • 559 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Juveniles should be convicted as adults for violent crimes because they are in the age that they can commit external crimes against people. It has jurisdiction of teens that are in the range of 13 to 17 years old that commit crimes. First off, in the article On Punishment and Teen Killers By Jennifer jenkins explains that most Juveniles convicted as a crime are repeat offenders. For the same reason if juveniles do not get the punishment they deserve they would most likely do it again. Teens are enrolled to know what they are doing and know what is good and what is bad.…

    • 432 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    If a juvenile committed a crime do you think they should spent their childhood and adulthood in prison for life?The Supreme court ruled that juveniles who commit crimes should not be sentenced to life in prison because it violates the 8th amendment. However some judges strongly disagree that juveniles who commit heinous crimes should always be punished with a sentence of life in prison. From my point of view juveniles who commit crimes should be accountable for their crimes but they shouldn’t get life in prison. Firstly, I disagree because most juveniles are at a young age and their brain is not fully developed.…

    • 905 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    By definition a juvenile is “A person who is not yet old enough to be legally considered an adult” (Merriam Webster Dictionary). Despite this definition, America chooses to try juveniles as adults. Juveniles who commit certain violent crimes are subjected to being imprisoned in adult facilities. These violent crimes are known as the seven deadly sins and include murder, voluntary manslaughter, rape, aggravated sexual battery, aggravated sodomy, aggravated child molestation and armed robbery with a firearm. Over 200,000 juveniles are charged in adult courts every year in the United States and should not be (Should Juveniles Be Tried as Adults? 11).…

    • 1747 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Juvenile crime has took a big toll on the U.S. as it took a rise dramatically. Many of these juveniles are serving life sentences for petty crimes. These juveniles are just childish, young, and way too immature to know right from wrong. What is worse is that most of the juveniles are getting tried as adults at such a young age and can lead to ruining their lives. Although these individuals are criminals and should face the consequences they committed, trying these teens as adults can be a cruel punishment.…

    • 544 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Moreover, children and teenagers should not be tried as if they were adults but instead tried in special youth courts where their young age is taken into…

    • 501 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Adolescents need to know what results from their actions. Because of this, it is followed that juveniles should be tried as adults. If children want to act like adults and commit crimes, then they should be treated as adults and…

    • 2180 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The article On Punishment and Teen Killers by Jennifer Bishop Jenkins speaks about how we here in the United States although we do give teenage murderers very big sentences that make them spend the rest of their life in prison we still respect their human rights. We do not imprison children nor torture and hurt the offenders, we simply are not letting their crimes go in vain. The authors purpose is to let us know that all though many people believe that teenagers who commit crimes should have a smaller sentence because of the way and the time it takes for their minds to develop. In fact she even states the following, "If brain development were the reason, then teens would kill at roughly the same rates all over the world. They do not.…

    • 159 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Juvenile Incarceration

    • 848 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Good morning. Society is faced with an increasingly growing problem. The problem is that children and teens are committing heinous crimes at a young age. The question is, do we sentence these children and teens to incarceration for the rest of their lives, or do we instead try to rehabilitate these teens and children and find the root causes of these problems? Do we not give them a second chance and let them rot in prison, or do we rehabilitate them and help them become important members of society?…

    • 848 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In this day and age, children start to think of themselves more and more as adults. Even if they are thirteen, acting like an adult is something they strive for. This wanting to be and act older may come with some bad side affects. Teens sometimes get caught up in this wanting to be older lifestyle and start running with the wrong crowd. Peer pressure then takes place and violent crimes from juveniles start to happen.…

    • 719 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Juveniles should not be tried as adults for it is wrong to hold adolescents, under the legal age, to adult standards. If children do not even receive the same rights as adults in the first place, it makes no sense to try them in adult court. These juveniles should have the opportunity to be rehabilitated in a positive manner, for they tend to come from troubled households and violent neighborhoods. In over half of the cases these troubled kids don’t know any different way than a life of crime when surrounded by both social and environmental factors that influence their delinquent actions. One must commemorate that juveniles are mentally underdeveloped, and still have time to innovate if their issues are dealt with precisely and accurately.…

    • 1310 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The decision of juveniles being tried as adults in the world of criminal justice has usually been an object of controversy. Some agree that an adolescent who commits a serious crime like murder deserves to be penalized exactly like an adult; while others declare that a minor should not face the same punishment as an adult. However, no matter how severe or appalling a crime may be, juveniles should not be tried as adults; the reason being that everyone should be granted the chance to learn from their mistakes. Juveniles should not be punished as adults, simply because they biologically distinct from adults. Teenagers are the midsection between children and adults.…

    • 1250 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A hateful crime committed by juveniles should always be punished with a sentence to life in prison. Being a juvenile should not exempt you from receiving a punishment. Even though teens might commit a crime due to an abusive family environment, they must be punished in order to learn that wrong actions will have consequences. It is safe to say that teenagers are capable of committing crimes that any adult would commit. Many argue that a teen’s brain is not fully developed but how come they are able to plan the crime that they want to commit.…

    • 771 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays

Related Topics