Little Justice in The Juvenile Justice System

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Recommended: Juveniles should not be tried and treated like adults

What makes an adult an adult? Is it based on their age? Does turning 18 automatically make you an adult? Should juvenile criminals convicted of a crime be tried and sentenced as adults? Why not? Juvenile criminals should be tried and sentenced as adults. Juveniles are more than just kids. They are capable of doing anything an adult is capable of doing. One has probably heard the saying, “If you want to be treated like an adult, then act like an adult.” If they’re going to do crimes that “only” adults are capable of doing, then they should treated like an adult and be tried and sentenced like one. Imagine being close to a murder victim, wouldn’t you want them to feel hell? “How would you feel if you never got to see your child alive again while their killer served only a short sentence before being released from jail?” (hchs1259). This quote hits hard. One can only imagine being in the position of a parent whose child was murdered. “Morals are inherent from birth” (Wilde). Children, like adults, should know wrong from right. A child’s upbringing does impact them a little, but it’s in their nature to know right from wrong. One may say that a child is going to become hardened after they get out of jail, but it’s also the same for adults. Kids should be treated as adults since they can commit the same crimes as adults. “The juvenile court was created to handle juvenile offenders on the basis of their youth rather than their crimes” (cliffs notes). This is unfair because they base their decisions on how old the child is. What do they think this is, school? In school, they basically teach children based on their age, not on how much they know already. The court system shouldn’t be like school. Kids know what they are doing. If ... ... middle of paper ... ... Sentenced Like Adults?" The Daily Beast. Newsweek/Daily Beast, n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2014. . "Should Juveniles Be Tried as Adults?" Should Juveniles Be Tried as Adults? N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2014. . "Should Juveniles Be Tried as Adults?" The Premier Online Debate Website. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2014. . Steinberg. "Spring 2012." Smart Kids, Foolish Choices: New Brain ResearchHelps Explain Why Adolescents Take Risks-AndWhat Their Friends Have To Do With It. N.p., 2013. Web. 21 Feb. 2014. .

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