Juveniles Should Be Tried As Adults Essay

Camryn Stephens

Ms. Duquette

English 10 CP

17 March, 2023

Don't Try Juveniles as Adults

The juvinile justice system is the system by which juvinile offenders are tried and charged for their crimes. Juviniles in the juvinile justice sytem are no longer allowed to be giving life sentences without parole, death sentances or several other harsh punishment. As such the sentances tend to be less severe than those in adult court. Some may argue that juviniles should be put throught adult court for more severe crimes. But this simply isnt the case. Juveniles should never be tried as adults, because they aren't adults. There are so many differences between adults and juveniles. And even when disregarding the differences, juvenile offenders have

Adults and kids have different responsibilities and thus they should serve different times. A big difference between adults and juveniles is that Juveniles are moldable. They are apt for growth and development, and thus are more likely to be able to be rehabilitated. Adult sentences don't take this developmental aptitude into account because it isn't present in adults. While adults may be able to grow and change the rate at which they do it is miniscule when in comparison to juveniles. Gail Granger in her article Juveniles don't deserve life sentences, published by the New York Times states that “As a former juvenile court judge, I have seen firsthand the enormous capacity of children to change and turn themselves around. The same malleability that makes them vulnerable to peer pressure also makes them promising candidates for rehabilitation.:”(Garinger). Unlike adults juveniles can grow and change. When sentencing these offenders as adults we disregard this and cut them out of a potentially productive and crime free future. It is impossible to tell which juveniles will truly reform but they all deserve the chance.

If they are going to be restricted like kids they should be treated like kids.Young minds rely on the adults around them to model exemplary behavior juvenile offenders are no different. In the article Kids are Kids, Marjie Lundstrom believes that these offenders should not be coddled “But the zeal to corral wildly troubled, ever-younger kids and ram them through the adult system belies everything the juvenile justice system is all about: that kids are different. Their reasoning is not fully developed.”(Lundstrom). The juvenile justice system is specifically geared and designed to accommodate for the differences in Juvenile minds, adult court is not. These juvenile offenders will not benefit from adult court and thus neither will the society that put them there as they are way less likely to reform and become productive members of society. If kids are to be treated like kids on one front they should be treated like kids on all fronts, Including court. In conclusion juviniles shouldnt be charged as adults becasue they arent. They arent cappable of the same thought, they are developmentaly behind, and there is a sytem that exsists specificaly for