Teenagers Should Be Tried For Serious Crimes

Teenagers and children are not allowed to drive, drink, get married, or vote until they are 18 years old. This is because they simply aren’t capable, maturity wise, to make logical or well thought out decisions. A large volume of research tells us that a person’s brain does not “fully mature” until their early to mid-20s. For this reason, the age at which people are being tried for serious crimes, should be raised.

There are four reasons why I feel the age that people are prosecuted for serious crimes should be raised. First, the brain is not fully developed until someone is in their 20s. The data is unclear as to the exact time, but a teenager’s brain is not fully developed. Secondly, putting teenagers in jail for serious crimes produces negative results. Thirdly, I believe that incarcerating teenagers for crimes they commit violates the 8th ammendment, it is cruel and unusual punishment. Lastly, the monetary cost to society is higher when teens are put in jail.

With powerful impulses under poor control, the likely result is a crash.” Any teenager who was being truthful, would have to agree.

In the same article, Peter Ash of Emory University goes on to say: “Violence toward others also tends to peak in adolescent years. It's mostly likely to start around age 16, and people who haven't committed a violent crime by age 19 only rarely start doing it later.”

The good news here, he said, is that a violent adolescent doesn't necessarily become a violent adult. Some two-thirds to three-quarters of violent youth grow out of it, he said. "They get more