Blake Potvin Harri Madhavan

3/7/19

2nd Hour

Mrs. Valentino

When a Child Breaks the Law, how should we Hold him/her Accountable?

A child should be held accountable for all laws and should be charged as an adult if

needed. In the book Lord of the Flies, a great example of a child committing murder and being

well known of the crime, wasn’t punished for it. “At once the crowd surged after it… leapt on to

the beast, screamed, struck, bit, tore” (Golding 153). Jack’s tribe had no mercy and just killed

Simon. Not only kill but tortured him through biting and tearing him apart, leaving him to rot in

the ocean. Indeed, Jack and his disciples should be punished harshly due to their actions. Another

predominant example is from Michigan Radio’s article A Michigan Teen granted Life without

Parole for Killing his Grandparents, Now he’s up for resentencing. “James says he, Retta and

Steve agreed if that meant killing them, they’d do it” (Springer). James committed murder on

two counts on purpose. He was only 17, but that doesn’t affect the outcome. They took two lives

away, so James deserves his life sentence. In conclusion, kids are mature enough to realize what

they’re doing and shouldn’t be excused from a crime that is not ethical.