Letter to the Review Board

Lizet Duarte
4943 South Tryon Street
Charlotte, NC 28217
October 13, 2017

Judges, Graduation Product Board

Harding University High School
2001 Alleghany Street , Charlotte, NC 28208
(980) 343-6007

Dear Judges,

My name is Lizet Duarte, I am seventeen and currently attend Harding University High
School. During this graduation project I learned many new things I did not know about my topic.
The reason why I chose this topic is because of my school. During my first year of high school
there were many fights between the students. When these fights would occur the school then
would be put on lockdown. These lockdowns would lack from thirty minutes to an hour. Seeing
all these students get in trouble would always make me question their actions and also curious
about the consequences they receive.

Although opponents claim juveniles should be charged as adults for their crimes its a bad idea
because jail can be dangerous for minors, we should provide the help they need, and they should
be able to continue their life. During this graduation project I learned about many problems
juveniles face being sentenced as adults and the everyday struggle they go through that no one
thinks about.

At the beginning of this project I agreed that juveniles should be charged as adults. Working on
definitely changed my mind because just like most people I want very uneducated about this
topic. Just like everyone else I judged these minors for their actions without really knowing
much about anything. After realizing the struggles they go through at a young age even younger
than me I was shocked, no one should go through what many young people go through alone.
When researching about my topic there were stories I would come across and my mind would be
blown away. No one talks about this topic, you dont hear anyone talk about how young people
are being put into jail and they things they go through.

I appreciate the time and attention from you all and thank you for listening to my presentation!

Sincerely,
Lizet Duarte