Children Who Kill Talking about children who kill is never easy. When it comes to children who commit murder, the question usually is why. This is the problem no one knows why. There is much debate; were they bullied, or abused. The real question isn’t why they did it. The real question is how they should be punished for their crimes. A child like an adult needs to be punished for crimes committed. Murdering someone is more than a mistake or an accident. Breaking a window is an accident; murdering someone is not. Many children who sadly are victims of bullying and abuse; do not turn into murders. Anyone that kills another should be sentenced to life without parole. Yes, sentencing a child to life without parole seems harsh, but think about the victims. They suffered these horrendous acts of violence. It is a slap in the face to the families of the victims. This seems to give the impression if they were adults we would give them harsh punishment, but because they are children they shouldn’t be held accountable for their actions. According to Edie Greene and Andrew J. Evelo, Professors at the University of Colorado states, In recent years, the Supreme Court has also applied a categorical …show more content…
“Betty Bell had screamed when they tried to put the newborn baby into her arms. And in the first four years of Mary’s life her mother tried repeatedly to rid herself of this unwanted child. Time and again she attempted to hand her over to relatives and, twice, even to Strangers. Four times she tried to kill her. On three occasions her eldest sister Cath, and Cath’s husband, Jack, were so concerned they asked either to adopt Mary or least to be allowed to care for her until she finished school. What I didn’t know until, with enormous difficulty, Mary told me last year, that between the ages of four and eight her mother, then a prostitute, had exposed her to one of the worst cases of child sexual abuse I have ever encountered (Sereny
If a juvenile or any person commits a crime, they should be punished accordingly for their actions. Many
When it comes to minors, we try to keep a balance between our logistic and moral views on the issue of their imprisonment. Usually, we end up thinking morally, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Children raised in harsh conditions or without adequate parenting could stay bad forever, or grow up to become a great person. A huge slip up shouldn’t take their life. We could think that the children could stay bad forever and become an even bigger problem later in life, but prison time works well to deter against that. The supreme court was right. It’s completely wrong to sentence a minor to
Heinous crimes are considered brutal and common among adults who commit these crimes, but among children with a young age, it is something that is now being counted for an adult trial and punishable with life sentencing. Although some people agree with this decision being made by judges, It is my foremost belief that juveniles don’t deserve to be given life sentencing without being given a chance at rehabilitation. If this goes on there’s no point in even having a juvenile system if children are not being rehabilitated and just being sent off to prison for the rest of their lives and having no chance getting an education or future. Gail Garinger’s article “ juveniles Don’t deserve Life sentence”, written March 14, 2012 and published by New york Times, mentions that “ Nationwide, 79 adolescents have been sentenced to die in prison-a sentence not imposed on children anywhere else in the world. These children were told that they could never change and that no one cared what became of them. They were denied access to education and rehabilitation programs and left without help or hope”. I myself know what it’s like to be in a situation like that, and i also know that people are capable of changing even children when they are young and still growing.
Kids should be subjected to the measures of punishment that our judicial system is giving to them. Kids who show lots of enmity should be tried as adults. It is the only way to protect the innocent children. These kids know right from wrong, but they choose to do the wrong things and violence is wrong. As the laws have gotten stricter on discipline the kids have gotten wilder. When we let society tell us how to discipline our children then violent children is the result.
Sentencing juveniles to capital punishment is unethical and cruel. It is too severe for juveniles without the full reasoning ability and limited brain development to be sentence to the death penalty. Horn (2009) writes, “Youths lack the sense of responsibility that society requires of adults. Their personalities are not yet fixed… Young people have to little experience to fully grasp the consequences of their actions.” (Horn, 2009). This shows that juveniles do not have the experience that adults have to be like adults. Also, Stevenson (2014) writes, “Contemporary neurological, psychological…evidence has established that children are impaired by immature judgement, an underdeveloped capacity for self-regulation and responsibility, vulnerability to negative influences and outside pressures, and a lack of control over their own impulses and their environment.” (Stevenson, 2014, pg. 267-268). Stevenson (2014) is basically saying that children are not matured as adults and the court needs to look at these facts before giving such punishments. Not only that, Stevenson (2014) says, “Young adolescents lack life experience and background knowledge to inform their choices; they struggle to generate options and to imagine consequences; and, perhaps for good reason, they lack the necessary self-confidence to make reasoned judgements and stick by them” (Stevenson, 2014, pg. 268-269). Children should be
Whether it is Jeffrey Dahmer, John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy, and person of the like, you may have a bad feeling about them due to their ill past. This is not due to an inner judgment of the person on your part, more than likely it is the media that has skewed your views of a serial killer. The news media is just playing their role in society and that is to inform people but they do so in a way that frightens people into coming back to view the media that they produce. The other types of media such as movies, television shows, radio stations, and books also portray serial killers as monsters to entertain people. Although it may be a great way to entertain and inform people, it is not the least bit true and gives serial killers a worse image by labeling them as monsters.
Mary Bell was a murderer, sadistic torturer of her victims, and a victim, more importantly she was a child. At the age of 10 Bell had killed two boys before the age of eleven. Growing up in the financially depressed town of Newcastle in England, in which Bell lived an impoverished life. Bell was born to her Betty Bell, a prostitute who suffered with mental illness and her father, presumed to be Billy Bell, a lifelong criminal who had a history of violence and was frequently unemployed. At the time of Mary’s birth, her parents were not married, and only married a few years after her birth.
School shootings are the leading death by a fire arm in the United States. What motivates these people to want to kill others? Acts of violence at schools is not a new thing. School shootings date back to the 18th century. However, school shootings are growing more common in this day in age. What motivates these people to want to kill others? With social networks more and more people are being bullied, which results in more kids snapping and shooting up their school. Bullying isn’t the only reason for school shooting, now smart kids are snapping under the pressure of unrealistic standards set for them by their honors teachers. In high school teens get the choice to take honors classes, or regular classes. The biggest difference in these classes
Many people claim that the child did not know any better, or that he was brought up with the idea that this behavior is acceptable. Although there is some truth to these allegations, the reality of this social issue is far more complex. Therefore we ask the question, "Should childhood offenders of capital crimes be treated as adults?" To begin with, numerous reasons for why a child acts in the manner he exhibits and why he continues to exert such dangerous and even fatal schemes. Recent research shows that factors ranging from inherited personality traits to chemical imbalances and damages suffered in the womb can increase the odds that a child will become violent (Johnson 234).
once the minor has committed a violent crime, they are no longer a kid. The minor had the ability to know right from wrong, but he still chose to commit the heinous crime anyway. Choosing to commit this violent crime means that the minor chose to act as an adult and must be held accountable. Once the minor has made the decision to act as an adult, they must be treated as an adult. If we do not teach minors that what they did has consequences they will never learn. Arguments can be made that minors should not be treated as adults and while these arguments do have merit, they are not my beliefs. In my opinion, minors who commit violent crimes need to be tried as adults. Justice does not discriminate when it comes to age. Right is right, and wrong is wrong and the wrong should be punished equally.
Maker, J., Brittain, J., Piraino, G., & Somtow, S. Children Who Kill. World Press Review. June 1993 v40 n6 p21-23.
"There is a feeling that if you commit murder, you can get away with it." (Filkins 2) There are several thoughts about murder, mainly discussed is the question why? "Rather than rehabilitating juveniles who have gone astray, the system often seems to release hardened criminals." (Glazer 1) One consideration on headlines worldwide was discussed by Sarah Glazer is Children killing Children.
Every child deserves a second chance, don’t they? These opinions could be swayed one way or another, depending on perspective. The kind of actions these children have committed have been present for generations and more to come. Innocent people have been harmed, killed ,and even slaughtered due to the underaged, innocent, and immature children. They have been given life in prison without parole and even the death penalty. Many would consider this a violation of the 8th amendment because of the unusual punishment. There are many others who believe the punishments aren't harsh enough. While I can see that a child doesn't know what it's doing, there is still reason to punish him just like we would for not brushing their
In many states offenders as young as 14 years old can be trialed in adult courts (Scott). This leads to juvenile inmates being sent to adult correctional institutions. Even though courts believe this is unjust. They still have not done anything to solve this issue (Scott). The kid might have committed and atrocity so awful some adults would squirm at the thought of it. But the kid is still a kid, and is not mature enough to live within older inmates. A reason why they committed a crime in the first place could have been fueled by the environment they lived in. Some of these
In the twenty first century there have been many cases of kids committing murder, whether it is the relationships they hold at home or the video games they play, the environment a child is exposed to will affect their developmental process. Children are supposed to be innocent and pure without the desire to kill, yet in the last 50 years official statistics on Listverse.com suggest that over 1,100 kids have been found guilty of murder in England alone. The average age of a child that kills is just about fourteen years old. These kids are usually brought up in an environment that does not teach them right from wrong.