Should Kids Be Convicted As Adults Essay

492 Words2 Pages

Nowadays kids are being charged as adults more and more for convicting crimes under the age of 18. Lory Reynolds stated “So many kids end up in the juvenile justice system before they’ve been able to get help.They end up getting help through the juvenile justice system, and that 's wrong. A kid shouldn 't have to commit a crime to get the help they need.” Juveniles are being convicted as adults for committing violent crimes such as assault, murder, sexual assault, etc.. There are three articles that talk whether or not juveniles should or should not be convicted as adults. Juveniles should not be convicted as adults for violent crimes because kid’s brains are not yet fully developed until they become adults.
Kids should not be convicted as adults because their reasoning is not fully developed. One example from the article “Kids are Kids” would be when a fifteen-year-old Yuba city youth who reportedly claimed he was mimicking a TV program about little girls who robbed a bank was given a 26-years-to-life prison term. The fifteen-year-old clearly did not fully reason why he robbed the bank. Another example would be the discovery from the article “Startling finds on Teenage Brains,” about a massive loss of brain tissue occurs in the teen years. …show more content…

A number of parents have suggested that children should not be convicted as adults for their crimes because children don’t have the same mentality as adults and act without reasoning of the consequences they have for committing such a crime. Children’s brains aren’t fully developed so they have a habit of imitating what they see in TV or from a role model they look up to. Children most of the time are forced to commit a crime by the friends they hang out with and are scared to walk away or say no. In the article “Kids Are Kids” the author states that “Today we are witness to criminal defendants - facing life sentences without parole - who cannot shave, still play with fire trucks, and love to act out scenes from TV or video