Juvenile Court System Essay

Traditional Juvenile Court System Juvenile court system started in 1899, and was created by four women who thought that children deserved a second chance instead of getting punished. The first city to have a juvenile court system was Chicago, Illinois. Today, they are found in Europe, Latin America, Israel, Iraq, Japan, and other countries. Most countries have similar systems with similar punishments. However, there have been many problems with this system. In 1967, there were a few disagreements that led to changes that made juvenile courts more like criminal courts which happened in the 1980’s. Parens patriae are also very important to the juvenile court system. Parens patriae are people of the government, or authority, who become the legal guardian of the troubled child. Most of the children who are sent to juvenile court usually have influences from their parents. For example, some children have parents who are alcoholics, drug addicts, rapists, and criminals. Another reason a child might purposely want to go to juvenile court would be to receive
attention from their parents, friends, or other family members. Parens patriae are people who give the child what they need and those people are there to help the child become successful. Demographics are also important when looking at statistics of juvenile court cases.
Demographics are certain groups of a population. Between 1967 and 1996, the rate of juvenile cases greatly increased. Most cases took place in the demographic of the children who were 15-17. There was a total of approximately 340 cases in that demographic. Most of the cases are carried to juvenile court because of 17 year olds. This is because they think they know what is going on in the world and they want to change the world. If a case is not carried on to the juvenile court, then there is also a court called the teen court. The teen court is open to children under the age of eighteen. Teen courts started back in the 1960’s, but no one really knew about them until the 1990’s. Teen courts are not as formal as juvenile courts. These two courts are very similar, but there are fewer adults involved in the teen court
system. As I previously stated, the juvenile court system also has many problems. Sometimes, the system punishes children instead of trying to help them to not do the same thing again. Juvenile court systems are also supposed to make sure that the child’s/children’s guardian is treating them properly. There is also a policy called the zero tolerance policy. The zero tolerance policy is the policy of when schools, districts, or businesses do not give children rightful punishments, but they give them the punishments that any other criminal should receive (West’s Encyclopedia of American Law 455). The zero tolerance policy was first initiated by President Ronald Regan’s administration In 1989 the zero tolerance policy became law for all schools throughout the country (West’s Encyclopedia of American Law 456). In conclusion, not all cases go to juvenile court, and at one point in time, there was no juvenile court. Four women in 1899 saved the day. The juvenile court system has so many advantages, one of them being parens patriae. This has helped many children who have parents that cannot support them or are addicted to drugs or alcohol. Parens patriae help raise the child/children properly. This is the story of the juvenile court system.