In the United States, anyone who is charged for committing a crime before the day of their 18th birthday is considered a juvenile and depending on the severity of the case shall be tried as a juvenile. There are some cases; however, where the juvenile justice system should be harder on the juvenile, but in most cases they should not go to an adult prison. There are most certainly some cases in which the juvenile should face the adult justice system, but for petty instances, a juvenile court will suffice. I find it hard to agree that a juvenile convicted for crimes dealing with drugs, alcohol, traffic violations, etc. should be tried in an adult court to receive punishment; however, I do believe that someone who commits rape, murder, kidnapping, or any other major crimes of the sort should be taken to an adult court. “Old enough to do the crime, old enough to do the time,” is a quote I remember hearing as I was growing up, but I was not taught that it applied to small or minor crimes, but often serious ones involving the harming of another individual. Placing juveniles in adult prisons can cause them to be put in danger, when in reality many of them can be “fixed” …show more content…
Juvenile offenders sometimes commit crimes that are equal to or of higher quality than those of adults; however, punishing them as adults in adult prisons will do no justice; they are less competent to stand trial, adult prisons can harm them mentally, physically, and emotionally, and they more often than not choose the actions they do because of