Argument Essay: Putting Children In Jail

When Nathaniel Brazil killed his favorite teacher, he received a life without parole sentence even though he was 12 years old when he committed this crime. Is this fair? I believe, no! I agree with the majority of Supreme Court Justices that juveniles, ages 17 and under, should not receive a life sentence without parole, even if it is mandatory. Youth and/or children are always known to be human beings who most likely act without thinking about the consequences. Authorities don’t understand how putting a child in jail can affect them emotionally and can even affect what type of adults they will become in the future. They don’t know the scientific evidence for how a juvenile delinquent’s brain is not fully developed. Putting children in jail for that much amount of time is inhumane and just plain unfair.

For example, in the article “Kids are Kids-Until They Commit Crimes”, in paragraph 4 & 5, it states “Hey, they’re only kids. That is, until they foul up. Until they commit crimes. And the bigger the crime, the more eager we are to call them adults.” I chose this example because I believe that it shows that people are easily convinced that if a juvenile commits a crime, they are branded as an adult. This is unfair. How are they suppose to fix what they did wrong if everyone jumps to conclusions? They simply can’t. Another example that I find useful is found in the same article, in paragraph 8 & 9 where it states “You want to throw the adult book at kids? Fine, says Democratic state Rep. Ron Wilson of Houston. Lower the voting age to fourteen.” This statement is a perfect example of what unfairness is. Why should juvenile’s suffer consequences like an adult, if they can’t even live or act like one in their daily lives? Or in this case, can’t even vote. I believe that the authorities do not care about what happens to a child when they receive an unreasonable