Analysis Of Should 11-Year-Olds Be Charged With Adult Crimes

The evolution of what people believe is popular changes throughout all the generations, but are these trends actually popular? There’s about 200,000 cases nationally of children charged and incarcerated every year as adults according to the Open Society Foundations mentioned in Philip Holloway’s article, “Should 11-Year-Olds Be Charged with Adult Crimes?”. How did the children go from playing violent video games to making those games into a reality? Children may not even be aware of the consequences to their own actions and how it will affect their future. There is a deeper meaning behind every teen's mind that does not get talked enough about. Juveniles must face the consequences, but should not have to serve for life as an adult.
Childhood

These children killed people and the attention is all on them and not the victims. In Jennifer Jenkins' article, “On Punishment and Teen Killer”, she writes about a story of a boy who mentions a boy who never got in trouble for his crimes and was actually a very smart boy who planned his crimes very carefully. “The offender in our case was a serial killer in the making. He came from privilege…he planned the murders for months…He did not act on impulse or because of peer pressure…Bragging to friends led to his arrest”. This could convince people into believing that all kids are bad and are old enough to be sentenced as an adult. This only proves that kids are only following the trend and falling down the rabbit role that’s going to mess their whole future

The purpose of the juvenile system is to focus on the reasons for their behavior rather than focusing on the being guilty or innocent, like how the adult court system works. Having community based restorative justice is one of the main targets the system should focus on with juveniles. Community based restorative justice focuses on the harm that was caused and what needs to happen in order to be better. I also believe that getting juveniles involved in community service will only do good for the kids as well. Another statement mentioned in the article “Juvenile InJustice: Charging Youth as Adults Is Ineffective, Biased, and Harmful” they write, “When we lock up young people, they are more likely to be exposed to extreme violence, fall prey to abuse, and suffer from illness. High rates of violence, unchecked gang activity, and overcrowding persist in Division of Juvenile Justice facilities where many youth sentenced as adults start their incarceration. Fights frequently erupt in facility dayrooms and school areas”. If the system continues to expose juveniles to more violence by sending them off to adult prison then problems get worse by slowing their development to