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Should Teens Be Tried As Adults MAG
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. ?
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This article has 323 comments.
I'm thinking 11 is a little young, maybe 14 or 15.
We're always wanting to be treated like adults, I only think it's fair that if a crime that is so horrendous adults have difficulty dealing with it, should be trialed (is that a word?) like an adult case would. Now there's all that stuff about prefrontal cortex or whatnot in a young person's brain, but if a person is intelligent enought to kill someone and try to cover it up, it's not a matter of brain capacity or reasoning, it's a matter of "should this person get treated lightly due to age, and then released into society after spending time in detention facilities"?
Killing is something only people with something dark in their souls can do, I believe. Sometimes that darkness gets pulled out in the worst of times. It is an unforgivable act though. Even for a child that is approaching adulthood. Sure, you can make mistakes, but we're all human because we know there are certain mistakes we can never take back. I think we all realize that at a young age, before 11 even.
Should teenagers be tried like adults? I think if they are around 15 or older, yes. Only with substantial evidence though. Whether it be burglarly, murder, etc, yes. Yes. However, I think they should also get into some sort of rehab program. We are still young, we are still impressionable. If someone tells us something is wrong and backs it up, we believe it. Punishing someone like an adult tells them that what they did was incredibly wrong, but helping them get through it will show them that they can maybe prove themselves as part of society again.
Maybe, but children should only be tried for adults until they have all the freedoms an adult has. We have to go to school against our will, we have to eat foods we don't like, we have to wear clothes that we don't want to, the list goes on and on. Once teens are granted those freedoms, I think they can't be held accountable for adult crimes and punishement.
Unless they're like 4, but I don't know how a 4 year old could kill someone.
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I agrre 100% with this article. I know some cases where a teen murdered someone and faced life in jail, and Im proud to say I'm happy about that. Teens know better. You may say that they dont know better but, really? You have kids and your oldest smacks the youngest accross the head, aare you going to let it slid because "they dont know any better"? Im darn sure thata they DO know better, because Im 15 and ALWAYS smack my sisters haha. Even though its wrong, I do it. I get in trouble and next time it takes more to irritate me before I smack them again. But if I got put in jail for smacking them, I will GARENTEE! I will NEVER smak my sister again! Teens do know better, we just choose not to behave. If we get bunished hard enough, we will stop.