Treat Juveniles Differently than Adult Criminals

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Treat Juveniles Differently than Adult Criminals I do not think it is a good idea to lock juveniles up in prisons with adults. For a child to set down and plan a murder for instance, there would have to be some kind of deep emotional problem. On the other side of this, if the child knows right from wrong and he can sit down and plan a murder, then you could say if he is old enough to kill someone then he is old enough to die. The juvenile criminal is rooted much deeper than right from wrong. It starts back from when they are small children. Most of them are usually outsiders or outcasts. Who can you hold fault for that other than society? If juveniles don't fit in with the popular kids in school they are considered an outcast. Even the teachers hold some responsibility to this. It is the popular kids that get to do everything and the quiet ones are left out and unnoticed. Parents are to be blamed to some extent too. They do not take the time to notice that their children are being teased and left out of everything because their kids do not tell them and they do not ask. Their parents are completely unaware that their own kids are hurting so bad inside that they are in their bedrooms planning murders and making bombs. Kids that are making fun of other kids, the parents are often unaware or ignore the fact that a juvenile can cause harm to another juvenile just by words alone. Society needs to stop thinking that some children are better than other children just because they are popular. They all need attention. It is not only children who are made fun of who commit terrible crimes, it is also kids who have everything and feel the need for attention. They feel the need to do something drastic in or... ... middle of paper ... ... on the best interest of that child and put them into rehabilitation programs. Should all juvenile crimes be handled alike? That is, should the criminal's age be considered in certain crimes such as shoplifting compared to rape. Will publicizing juvenile crime deter other juveniles from committing crimes? Is there an answer to this growing problem? When a juvenile does an adult crime, they do need to be punished for the crime they have done, however they do not belong in an adult prison. They should be sent to a place were there are other juveniles and when they reach an adult age of 18 then they can be sent to an adult prison. Bibliography: Works cited About.com. "Jailing Children in Adult Prisons." Feb. 15,2000 http://humanrights.miningco.com/library/weekly/aa071600a.htm Juvenile Crime. ABC News. ABC channel 7. July 16, 2000

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