Children between 12-17 years of age accounted for 7% of all violent crime arrests in America, with approximately 192,000 arrests in 2019 alone (according to juvenile justice statistics.) Some people believe that putting minors in prison for violent crimes is inhumane and unsafe for children, while others believe they should get the same penalty as adults. The United States of America has created many laws to ensure the safety of its citizens, including the law of criminal responsibility, which determines when an individual is viewed as an adult in the eyes of the law. In some severe cases, including violent crimes, minors will be charged and treated as adults even though they might not be fully mentally developed. Even though minors might not be fully mentally developed, children should be charged as adults if violent crimes are committed because it treats severe crimes with the seriousness that they need to be and shouldn't be punished less for the same crimes as adults commit, they are not safe to be put in juvenile detention, and it reduces the chance of repeat offending. …show more content…
A person’s age is not a factor in determining whether it should charge him or her as an adult or a juvenile. The only thing that determines the charge is the crime that was committed and their criminal history. It is not fair to the family of the victim to have the punishment of the severe crime reduced because of the age of the offense committed even though how traumatizing it can be for the family. If the united states of America used age as a significant factor for crimes, then the youth crime rate would skyrocket and the kids wouldn't have the proper repercussion needed to learn and change for the better. That's why children should be charged as adults during violent crimes to show the significance of the