Juvenile Crimes Should Not Be Tried As Adults

Juvenile Justice Essay
Throughout time the department of justice have to face difficult cases in life. Their decision is meant to make the country better. Unfortunately, in cases dealing with juveniles; they are being punished the same as adults for heinous crimes. I believe juveniles who commit heinous crimes should not be tried as adults. Putting kids in jail is ridiculous and is not justifiable because it does not solve the solution. Most that are punished with this sentence are just messed up for life.
Putting kids to jail does not solve or make the situation better. One reason why it is not justifiable to put juvenile’s in jail and be treated as adults is because they lack education while they are in jail. For example, in the article 1994 Chicago Slaying Continues To Shadow Pair by Gary Marx states “has a fourth-grade education and is functionally illiterate…he

learned nothing in prison that would help him succeed in the outside world…embarrassed that he couldn’t write well enough to fill out a job application”. This signifies that juveniles do not learn anything that could be beneficial to them. If the victim would have been educated, he would have a better understanding why he committed the crime and how it is was wrong. How will he learn and get a higher education after he is released? How is the 29-year-old victim now going to be in a 5th grade class?
Another reason why it juveniles should not be treated like as adults is because when entering prison, it is most likely from them not change their behavior. For example, In the Article, Prison Is Too Violent For Young Offenders By The New Your Times states” Facing the reality their lengthy sentence and potentially never going home makes them seek protection and try to fit in their new world…The fear of being assaulted produces a need for security, which leads many young prisoners to rely on gangs and weapons for survival”. This clarifies how going into adult prisons will not change their actions while being punished. Many juveniles are so afraid the lacks of protection so they focus on how to survive in jail rather then change the way they think. They do not learn to change their behavior because they are influenced by all the negativity happening in the prisons. For Example, In National Geographic’s TV Show Hard Time they follow the steps of inmates lives while in prison. When interviewing to a juvenile he states” I do not care about other people who he uses to before… I do not mind doing time… I am going to keep doing what I am doing which is being a criminal”. They also interview his roommate who is older and is want to better himself and others; he states, “ I tried to change his mind and behavior, but he doesn’t listen…He’s way too young and does not think about the future…He’s going to continue going on to the wrong path”. This shows how juveniles are influenced by negativity in the prison and do not change there actions. They are young and are careless about where they want to be in life, what a head of them. Being in a bad environment leads to bad influences, which cause them to not decrease recidivism.
Now many people believe that juveniles should be charged as adults because “A crime is a crime” or they just “need to learn a lesson” but that is not true because while being in prison to survive you have to get into problems, which could extend your release. How are you going to learn a lesson when you are going to have to protect yourself and by any means it can be killing an inmate who’s trying to hurt you. Isn’t that the committing another crime? In the Article used before by The New York Times states “ The suicide and sexual abuse rates of younger prisoners are higher than those of the physically mature…How can rehabilitation be possible in such a dangerous environment”. This explains how putting kids in jails with adults do not learn their lesson. They are so afraid that they want end life because of the environment or they have to commit things that involve bad behavior to survive. Plus, in a discussion in our class; our teacher asked us if we would live next to someone who killed someone before they when to prison “to change” and the whole class responded “No”. The response of the class shows that when a prisoner is released and has entered the free world, they still do not trust the “Changed man” which lowers their self-esteem. But how come they do not see them as a better person? Isn’t that why they go to prison? To change and gain trust form society?
Another reason why juveniles should not go to jail and be charged as adults is because they are still kids or teenagers.

Their brain have not fully developed in the form to know what they have done wrong. They do not have no idea what is a head of them. For example, In the Article by Paul Thompson, Starling Finds on Teenage Brains it states “what really caught our eye was a massive loss of brain tissue that occurs in the teenage years…brain cells and connections are only being lost in the area controlling impulses which inhibit our violent passions…teens need all the help they can get to steer their development onto the right path”. This shows how most teenagers are not fully developed to understand why what they did is wrong. They lack their view for the future. It takes time to their brain to develop and release that they are now are mature. How are 14-year-olds or 17-years-olds supposed to be mature as a 21-year-old man? When have you ever seen a 14-year-old be mature as an adult? They cannot even vote nor buy alcohol like

adults.
Final reason why juveniles should end up in jail and be charged as adults is because they are not safe. Many can be embarrassed and even commit suicide. For example, In the article, In Prison, Teenagers Become Prey by The New York Times it states “17-year-old son was incarcerated after setting trash bin on fire…In prison, he was raped repeatedly…He later hanged himself inside his cell…Juveniles were five times as likely to be sexually assaulted in adult rather than in juvenile facilities – often within their first 48 hours of incarceration”. This shows that juveniles are most likely to get raped any times and be unprotected. I do not think this should have to go through these embarrassing moments. It also causes juveniles to end their life without being able to rehabilitate after prison. In the Article, In Prison, Teenagers Become Prey it also states “Juveniles housed in adults facilities are 36 times more likely to commit suicide” which proves how treating juveniles as adults does not solve the solution.
In conclusion, I do no think juveniles should be treaded like adults. There is a big difference between juveniles and adults. Juveniles should be treated more carefully because they have not fully developed. Juveniles have a different understanding from adults and should be treated better. Adults have experienced more thing then juveniles and know more about maturity then teenagers. I believe kids are kids and should not have to treated as adults because reality is that physically and mentally they are not mature and grown up.