Foo, Jessica Ms. Marcum, ERWC Period 6 March 2017 Juveniles Should Be Tried As Adults There is a churning topic in modern society today whether juvenile offenders should be tried as adults for committing heinous crimes. A juvenile is considered to be a person who is immature, childish, infantile, and is most likely under the age of eighteen. Many people have very different perspectives about this topic and different arguments to why or why not juveniles should be tried as adults. Many believe that juveniles should be tried as adults because they should no what is right from wrong, but others against juveniles being tried as adults make the argument that their brains are not fully developed, causing them to act out before thinking about the possible consequences of the crimes they commit. Juveniles should be tried as adults because if they are capable of committing the same crime as an adult, there is no excuse why they should not deserve the same consequences an adult receives, Greg Ousley was a fourteen year old boy who murdered both of his parents and was sentenced to serve a 60 year sentence for the crime he committed. There were many variables leading up to him murdering his parents, but his parents paid no attention to those variables. According to Scott Anderson, Greg Ousley had “told his mother that he was scared, that all he ever thought about was murder and suicide,” (5). It is very apparent that Ousley was mentally unstable and he knew that he was going to commit the crime. Therefore, Ousley deserved to face the consequences because he was aware of what he was doing and he knew there would be aFoo, 2 punishment for his actions, Anderson also states that Greg Ousley said “I had been thinking. about killing them every time I get mad,’” (1). This clearly shows that Greg wanted to kill his parents and it was not just an impulsive behavior due to an undeveloped brain. Juveniles have the tendency to be immature and they also do not think things through, however, when they murder a k of the effect it has on the person or multiple people, they do not "im’s friends and families or the community around them, There is no doubt that juveniles should know what is right from wrong and they should know the consequences they will face for committing the crime. However, juveniles are selfish and do not think about the effect murdering someone will have on other people. A high school teacher, Jennifer Jenkins in her article, "On Punishment and Teen Killers”, addresses her own personal experience with juvenile crime and the effect it has on her. Within her artiele, Fenkins talks about how a juvenile murdered her sister, her sister's unborn child, and her brother-in-law and she states that, “He reported to a friend, who testified at his trial, about his ‘thrill kill’ that he just wanted to “see what it would feel like to shoot someone,”” (Jenkins 2). It seems as though this juvenile knew what he was doing and did it on purpose knowing what the consequences ‘were to committing a crime of this magnitude, but he just wanted to do it for pure joy. This supports why juveniles should be tried as adults because he knew what he was doing and knew the consequences, but he still chose to commit the crime anyway. Jenkins also states, “There are no words adequate to describe what this kind of traumatic loss does to a victim’s family,” (Jenkins 8). Juveniles do not really think about the effect killing someone has on the community lose to the person they murdered. It takes a huge toll on most people in the community around the victim whether they know the victim or not because it makes them all fearful of their ownFoo, 3 lives being taken too. Therefore, juveniles should be tried as adults because it makes everyone feel safer knowing that they will not be harmed and if juveniles are able to kill someone they deserve to face the consequences an adult would face. Many people believe that juveniles should be tried as adults because they believe they should know what is right from wrong, however, there are other people that believe juveniles should not be tried as adults. In the article, “Juveniles Don’t Deserve Life Sentences” by Gail Garinger, she states “Young people are biologically different from adults... regions of the adolescent brain responsible for controlling thoughts, actions and emotions are not fully developed,” (Garinger 5). Even though Garinger has a good point, a brain that is not fully developed is not a good reason to why juveniles should not be tried as adults. Another viewpoint stated by Paul Thompson in his article, “Startling Finds on Teenage Brains” states, “These frontal lobes, which inhibit our violent passions, rash actions, and regulate our emotions, are vastly immature throughout the teenage years,” (Thompson 7). This argument also is no reason to be able to try juveniles as adults, Juveniles deserve to have the same consequences as an adult would face because they do know what is right from wrong, and therefore they should be able know that if they commit a heinous crime, they will have to face a punishment. Juveniles are very immature and do not think very well, but that is not an excuse for them to be treated like children. Teenagers do know what is right from wrong and deserve to be punished like an adult would if they commit a heinous crime. Therefore, making the excuse that juveniles’ brains are not fully developed is not a stable argument for why they should not be tried as adults, If juveniles can commit the same crime as an adult would, they deserve to face the same consequences an adult would because they know what is right from wrong.Garden Grove Unified School District Addendum 3 ERWC Rubric Based on the CSU English Placement Test (EPT)