Justin Helsley
Mrs. Lopez
ERWC 6th Period
03/30/23
On Rehabilitation and Troubled Youth Whether we like it or not, our youth are our future. The kind of world and society we present to our youth today will set a precedent and echo on for generations to come. Do you think you’re the same person you were 5 years ago? For many juveniles that commit violent crime, they are often charged as adults, despite being between the tender ages of 12-17, they are not presented the opportunity to change. Their chance at a normal adult life had been forcefully forfeit, because of decisions made before their brains had even developed completely. We should not subject juvenile criminals to adult crimes when their brains and decision-making abilities aren’t
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This is obviously significant because it can explain why juveniles can make such poor decisions, in the heat of the moment especially. Dobbs also points out that the problem isn’t teenagers' assessment of risk, it’s their incorrect estimate of the reward. Adolescents may even assess that the risk is far greater than it actually is, but their evaluation of how big the reward is is often incorrect and leads them into more risk-taking behavior. This is something that gets ironed out in the later stages of maturation, which juveniles haven’t yet experienced. Additionally, as “Juvenile InJustice: Charging Youth as Adults Is Ineffective, Biased, and Harmful – Executive Summary” by Human Impact Partners points out, prisons aren’t safe places at all for youth offenders. Imprisoned youth are more likely to be exposed to violence, abuse, and illness, which in turn, makes them even more likely to have issues related to development. Prisons are horrific places, we can’t just solve all of our problems by throwing developing offenders into a cell and leaving them to the wolves where it’s dog-eat-dog, we can’t do that to our youth no matter how bad of a crime they commit. It’s