Should Teens Be Tried As Adults | Teen Ink

Should Teens Be Tried As Adults MAG

By Anonymous

   Should teenagers be tried as adults? Opinions differ. Some people argue that teenagers don't know what they are doing when they commit a crime and are still too young to comprehend what is right and wrong. I totally disagree. I am old enough to know that committing a crime is wrong and that if I commit one, I will be punished. Anyone who says teens can't tell right from wrong is either too old to remember what being a teenager is like or they are a teenager who has committed a crime and don't want to be tried as an adult. In either case, they are wrong. All teens know that killing is wrong, yet they do it anyway and get away with a light sentence because of their age. Even if a teen didn't know it was wrong, it doesn't mean it's right. They should still be punished. If they aren't, they willthink that crimes are okay and continue to commit them.

Teens today don't fear the law because they don't think they will get caught. And if they do, they know they have a good chance of getting off because they are tried as teens and not adults. We have to get tougher on crime. There should be a law that everyone over eleven years old will be tried as adults. That way more teens would be discouraged from committing crimes. They would know that murder would get them a very long sentence instead of staying in juvenile hall until they are eighteen. If we want to cut down on teen crime, we have to have tougher laws. ?





Similar Articles

JOIN THE DISCUSSION

This article has 323 comments.


101dee202 said...
on Mar. 19 2009 at 2:43 am
Yea they should know the consequences

jadybug214 said...
on Jan. 26 2009 at 6:59 pm
This is a great article and i totally agree with it! all teens want is to be treated like adults...that should mean in everything they do. if anyone knows any other articles on this same topic please email them to me

zombieslayer said...
on Dec. 8 2008 at 1:52 pm
yah i mean which teen wouldn't know what is right and wrong ill tell yah any one smart