In today’s society, the amount of crime is around 1,197,704 violent crimes committed worldwide (FBI). In the same year 53,500 crimes were committed by juveniles (National Center). The question that remains important over time is, should violent juvenile offenders be tried and sentenced as adults? If adolescents aren’t treated as adults in everyday life they should not be tried and sentenced as adults.
The juvenile court system was established in the United States around two hundred years ago, the first court appearing in 1899 (Findlaw). There are many differences between the two court systems. Such as, juvenile courts focus on the rehabilitation of the adolescence (Findlaw). Whereas adult courts focus on punishing someone for their crimes
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A minor should not be able to get their hands on a weapon until they are trusted and taught how to properly use it. For all the cases where a minor has gotten their hands on a gun and hurt someone with it, the adult that the weapon belonged to should be punished for letting the minor get ahold of it. As well as punishing the minor in the juvenile court system for the crime that had been committed.
Another counterargument that could be made is that after a certain age, a minor is smart enough to find a weapon. Even if the parents did not own it, if a minor wanted a weapon they would get one. In such a case, the parent should not be held accountable since the minor had acquired the weapon on their own. That is a valid statement, that was taken into consideration deeply but until the age of 18 the adult is responsible for the child.
The final reason that juvenile offenders should never be put behind bars with the adults is the child molesters. It is not smart for any reason to put a child at risk of being raped while in prison with a child molester. Even if a minor committed a violent crime, that does not mean they deserve to be placed with the most brutal and cruel people to walk this earth. That’s what prison is. It’s where the really bad people go. Juvenile detention centers are where the really bad kids go who have a shot at