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When Kids Get Life Essay

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Recommended: Juveniles and young adults in prison

The concept of injustice has always been something that has infuriated me, especially when experienced by juveniles. One particular example is portrayed in a documentary called When Kids Get Life, which I watched during an undergraduate juvenile delinquency course. This documentary, and the injustice it portrays, ignited my passion to stand up for unjust policies and laws against juveniles. In When Kids Get Life, produced by PBS, FRONTLINE producer Ofra Bikel traveled to Colorado in 2007 to document a story about five individuals who were sentenced to life without parole as juveniles. The stories of Nathan Ybanez and Erik Jensen were the ones to make a life-long impression on me. In 1998, these two men were high school students living in …show more content…

This is a criminal justice issue I have come to be passionate about and is inadequately addressed. Injustice is an imminent issue across all ages, however, I believe it especially salient for juveniles, as most of these adolescents are helpless and come from abusive environments where they have no one advocating on their behalf. I believe what infuriated me the most with the case of Erik and Nathan was how many mitigating circumstances were overlooked. While such circumstances do not excuse or justify the behavior of Erik or Nathan, especially, I do believe that the weight of these conditions are something in which deserves more attention to especially when deciding the fate of an individual who has not even fully developed mentally or physically yet. As a child we are clearly not held to the same standards as an adult and this is with a just cause. To say that an adolescent knows right from wrong in every situation is completely unjust in itself, especially when mitigating circumstances, such as, growing up with an abusive parent occur. Policies within the juvenile justice system are far too often implemented without empirical based evidence to support them, which has resulted in cruel and unusual punishments. Juveniles, such as Nathan and Erik, need individuals to advocate on their behalf and help relieve the injustice experienced by juveniles Therefore, I would like to devote my career

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In the documentary “When Kids Get Life” by Ofra Bikel we see five men who were sentenced to life in prison for committing crimes in their teens. We hear the stories of how it happened, why it happened, and what life is like for them today. This documentary sheds light on the battle that juveniles face when they commit crimes and the judicial system. This documentary relates heavily in the material we learn because although it is about teenagers who receive life in prison, the judicial system plays a key role.

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Not only does Berstein call for an overall reform of this nation’s juvenile prisons, she goes as far as saying the practice of locking up youth is in need of a “more profound than incremental and partial reform” (13). The fact that Bernstein outlines the numerous failed strategies and goals of this practice with her compelling use of studies and statistics is enough to promote an audience to reject the practice of locking up youth. The statistic she shares that “four out of five juvenile parolees [will be] back behind bars within three years of release” as well as the studies she conducted on numerous instances when a guards abuse of power lead to the death of a child work to further prove her point: being that “institution[s] as intrinsically destructive as the juvenile prison” have no place in a modern society (13, 83). Bernstein refutes this false sense effectiveness further by sharing her own ideas on what she believes works as a much more humane solution to rehabilitating

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As he faced justice through the court system, advocates unnecessarily argued that he was only a child and too young to serve as an adult. To show that an individual’s age should not be used as an excuse to justify their actions, Weir states “Some juveniles commit crimes so serious, so heinous, that public safety mandates — and justice demands — full accountability in our criminal justice system. There are those who argue this is unfair and unjust. They say the juvenile brain is not fully developed until well into the

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In Joe's case, the criminal justice system is way too harsh on a mentally disabled thirteen year old, who lacked a steady home and suffered child abuse and neglect. His punishment is a prime example of how society is too harsh on children who commit non homicide crimes, especially given the circumstances in this case. Instead of helping Joe, they locked him up for life, where nobody cared about him. When they imprisoned him, they didn't even send him to a juvenile prison, but instead sent him to an adult prison, where he was left vulnerable and an easy target. Kids should not be going to adult prisons as juveniles because the harsh environment prevents them from rebounding back from their past mistakes.

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Jessie Townsend May 3rd, 2016 Prof. Allen Wong ASOC283 Why Kids Get Life The documentary “When Kids Get Life” delves into four cases involving juveniles who are serving life without parole in Colorado prisons. All of these juveniles are serving this time due to first degree murder among other charges they have received. The ages of these juveniles at the time of their crimes range from fifteen to seventeen and all of them still currently remain incarcerated. By applying different delinquency theories to each case, there is a chance that one could explain or even rationalize why these juveniles committed the crimes that they did.

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These youth live in poverty, have endured homelessness and hunger, witnessed death and murder, and survived sexual, emotional, and physical abuse. It could be argued that because the youth do not know any other way of life that they should not be held accountable for their actions. However, when poor often black youths commit a crime, they do not have the financial resources available to afford the best attorneys or expert witnesses. As a result, these youths are more often found guilty and given harsher sentences relative to the crimes that they commit. The inability to afford proper legal representation has allowed many black youths to serve time in prison for crimes they didn’t commit.

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The documentary "Consuming Kids" is a powerful and thought-provoking film that raises important questions about the impact of advertising on children. The film argues that advertising has become a pervasive force in children's lives, influencing their behavior, values, and attitudes. While some may argue that advertising is simply a harmless way to sell products, the documentary presents compelling evidence that advertising can have a negative impact on children's health, well-being, and development. One of the key arguments presented in the documentary is that advertising is designed to create a sense of need and desire in children. Advertisers use a variety of techniques to make children believe that they must have the latest toys, gadgets,

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The Juvenile system was first established around 1899 during the Progressives Era Reforms. The progressive era reform was the first system to actually try to reform juveniles due to the fact that they were being trialed as adults. Psychologist made developments with research on the psyche of the juveniles being trialed as adults not beneficial to the state of mind that some minors can’t comprehend at the adult level. The findings from the research that were conducted, made society change their views on the juvenile delinquency.

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We have seen today in society of how crime rates have been rampant and how statistics show that most of the crimes were being made by minors. I believe that when most of them look at the bottom of these young offenders come disproportionately from impoverished single-parent homes that are located in the neighbourhoods desinvertido and have high rates of learning disabilities, mental health, and substance abuse and problems with the help of the system of juvenile justice that can make a great return on a successful transition to adulthood. Their ages ranged from 20 and under, most are under fifteen years of age. Juveniles tried as adults must assume the same consequences as any other criminal and are subject to state prisons with inmates much higher and that have probably committed crimes much more tortuous then you could ever have. These minors between the ages of nine to twenty according to the offence committed or of the number of times that are prosecuted and believe that it is immutable.

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There are many children in the world who are being put behind bars and detained for alleged wrongdoing without protections they are entitled to. Throughout the world, children are charged and sentenced for actions that should not be considered as adult crimes. Here in the United States, the minimum age of criminal responsibility is age 12. Law enforcement officials and those in the juvenile justice system nationwide tend to mistreat underage individuals by trying cases while working through the lens of an adult. Unfair punishments are still handed down domestically, which is in violation of Supreme Court law.

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Where is the justice in a system that allows juveniles to be made into victims of heinous crimes while not providing these children with necessary rehabilitation? Adult prisons are terrible environments for rehabilitation of juvenile criminals. Juveniles are at high risk for sexual abuse and suicide in prison. “Congressional findings in the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 posited that juveniles were five times as likely to be sexually assaulted in adult rather than in juvenile facilities - often within their first 48 hours of incarceration.

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The juvenile justice system has made numerous of ethical issues when managing juvenile offenders. The issue with the juvenile justice system is the laws and rules that govern it. It has led to years of controversial debate over the ethical dilemmas of the juvenile corrections system, and how they work with youth offenders. The number of minors entering the juvenile justice system is increasing every month. The reasons why the juvenile justice system faces ethical dilemmas is important and needs to be addressed: (1) a vast proportion of juveniles are being tried and prosecuted as adults; (2) the psychological maturation of the juvenile to fully comprehend the justice system; and (3) the factors that contribute to minorities being adjudicated in the juvenile justice system are more likely than White offenders.

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Even children have the capability to act and think the way as an adult would. Juveniles need to be held accountable for their actions because it was their actions that caused for them to be put in such a situation. 13 year old Derek King and his 12 year old brother, Alex, were being charged of bludgeoning their father, Terry King, to death. In the book, “Angels of Death,” by Gary C. King stated, “I hit him once and then I heard him moan and then I was afraid that he might wake up and see us, so I just kept on hitting him... I threw the bat on the bed, lit the bed on fire because I was scared of the [evidence] and everything.

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Juvenile Justice Should juveniles get treated as adults that’s one of the biggest controversy in our nation now days, with many juveniles committing crimes that are inconceivable according to their age. Judges have the last word on how to treat this young people. Many people argue that “the teens that are under eighteen are only kids, they won’t count them as young adults, not until they commit crimes. And the bigger the crime, the more eager this people are to call them adults” (Lundstrom 87). This is why people can’t come to a decision as how these young people should be treated like.

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