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Bella Danker

Bowyer

Expos, Period 2

27 February 2017

Adolescents

Envision a seven-year-old girl with an incredible future ahead of her; she grows up to be

a selfless person who finds the cure to cancer, or even becomes the first woman president. Now

imagine that same child finding her parents gun in a drawer and bringing it to school, not

knowing the repercussions of her actions or how atrocious the act of pulling the trigger was.

Instantly, her adolescent life has been abruptly stopped, and this bright future disappears as she is

thrown into jail forever. Children deserve consequences for their crimes, however if their minds

are not developed enough to know right from wrong it is not the governments right to take away

their lives. In most cases juveniles should not be tried as adults, even for crimes as severe as

murder.

Juveniles brains are not thoroughly developed, and this immaturity leads to foolishness

and lack of knowing right from wrong. A child cannot be tried as an adult because the regions

of the adolescent brain responsible for controlling thoughts, actions and emotions are not fully

developed (Garinger). This lack of cognitive development makes juveniles prone to peer

pressure and vulnerable to their harsh surroundings, leaving them more susceptible to commit

crimes foolishly. Young kids many times mimic acts they repeatedly see, such as Lionel Tate

who was imitating his World Wrestling Federation heroes when he pummeled his playmate

(Lundstrom). When a child watched something done endlessly they are likely to repeat those
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actions. If a child comes from a state of parental abuse and [a] negative home [life they are left]

with little hope and limited choices (Garinger). An adolescent who has their whole life ahead of

them and makes a mistake because their morality has not been shaped yet should not be thrown

into jail for eternity. Countless scientists and researches have concluded throughout studies that a

childs brain has years of growth ahead, thus they should be given the ability to advance before

being given up on. Young people are biologically different than adults (Garinger) so they

should be seen as such in court, and not sentenced to life without parole. Nationwide, 79 young

adolescents have been sentenced to die in prison (Garinger), meaning over 80% of most of their

lives will be spent behind bars. These children are abandoned in prison with low cognitive skills,

left wondering what they did to deserve this severe punishment. They are left hopeless and

powerless as they are denied access to education and rehabilitation programs (Garinger).

Essentially their brains stop developing and they are left in a childlike state for the rest of their

lives, unable to learn grow their sense of morality. If a juvenile is given the tools to grow and be

rehabilitated they likely will grow up to be productive, law-abiding citizens who reach their

goals. However, incarcerating adolescents for a lifetime is telling them that no one care[s] what

[becomes] of them (Garinger) and they do not have the ability to change.

Although in most cases children should not be tried as an adult, there are also numerous

adolescents this law should not apply to. If a seventeen year old boy who turns eighteen within a

month strategizes the murder of numerous people and follows through, the incident is completely

different. An almost-adult psychopathical can not play the role of an innocent child who was

confused when all evidence proves otherwise. In a case brought forth in the article on

Punishment and Teen Killers a young man committed homicide and felt thrill (Jenkins) from
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it. This teenager knew exactly what he was doing and murdered a pregnant woman and her

husband so he could see what it would feel like to shoot someone (Jenkins). This teenager had

clear signs that he would become a serial killer if he was not locked up immediately. He felt no

remorse and loved the feeling of taking another human's life, and this crime was in no way done

on accident. Each case differs from the next, so when calculating if a juvenile should be tried as

an adult in court each fact must be taken into consideration. In this case the defendant showed

little signs of having the ability to change, and he knew right from wrong. He is a murderer, not

an ignorant child who had years of mental development left to complete. This teenager did not

act on impulse or because of peer pressure (Jenkins), and he did not fit the requirements of a

naive, confused adolescent who had room to change. When considering if adolescents should be

tried as adults, there is no simple yes or no answer.

Adolescents differ greatly from adults both physically and mentally. They are

biologically less developed, and lack cognitive skills making them less likely to know right from

wrong. Juveniles are seen as less than adults in all aspects of life and are not allowed to make

many decisions, so why would they be incarcerated equally to adults? Nationwide children are

locked up for life, left alone and hopeless without rehabilitation programs or the opportunity to

expand their knowledge. However each case differs from the next and facts need to be

considered when making the law on adolescents deserving life sentences. In many cases children

are naive and too incompetent to fully acknowledge the crimes they are committing, but in others

these children are serial killers in the making. All aspects need to be deliberated in a

case-by-case manner to ensure that these adolescents are being properly incarcerated to the full

extent of their crimes. A young child should not have their future taken away in consequent of a
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crime they didnt understand they were committing, but a future serial killer with the drive to

murder should not be left free.

Word Count: 1033

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Works Cited

Garinger, Gail, Juveniles Dont Deserve Life Sentences. New York Times 15 Mar. 2012, New

York ed.: A35. Print.

Lundstrom, Marjie. Kids Are Kids-Until They Commit Crimes. Sacramento Bee 25 May 2001;

B7. Print.

Jenkins, Jennifer Bishop. On Punishment and Teen Killers. Juvenile Justice Information

Exchange. 2 Aug. 2011. Web. 11 June 2012. <http://jjie.org/jennifer-bishop-jenkins