Should Juveniles Be Jailed, Sentenced, and Trialed as Adults?
Johnequeva Brice
Ms. Harvey
ENC1101
November 2013
Should Juvenile Offenders Be Sentenced and Jailed as Adults?
Life is so precious, almost too precious. We want to deal with each moment of life with gentle care; we cannot get these moments back once we’ve passed them, and humans are only given the opportunity to live life once. What we chose to do with our lives is an individual choice, completely optional, and one of the most life impacting decisions we will ever make. Unfortunately, everyone does not have the experience or the knowledge to make the proper decision of how they should spend their life. What I find even more unfortunate is that some individuals make this decision too early on in life. It is heart breaking to me that a large percentage of adolescents chose to live a life of misdeed and become juvenile offenders sentenced, and jailed as adults. Mentally incapable of thinking like an adult, teens participate in illegal behavior with consequences they will not be able to bare, robbing them of their childhood. Under any circumstances, though others may strongly disagree, children should not receive adult sentencing or be jailed as adults.
Every day, in courts all over America, children are given adult sentences. Every year, 200,000 youths are tried, sentenced or incarcerated as adults (Steir). How effective is this? Childhood is one ongoing learning process. What lesson is taught here? Serious crimes committed by teenagers are steadily increasing. A quarter of all crimes are committed by offenders under the age of 18, official figures suggest (Doyle). Not only is sentencing them as adults ineffective, I believe it is also morally wrong. Based on criminal behaviors, adolescents are obviously incapable of making well-processed, responsible decisions as adults are. They lack experience and cannot rationalize about the consequence of their actions such as being sentenced to life in prison in an all adult male environment. In addition to lack of
Ms. Harvey
ENC1101
November 2013
Should Juvenile Offenders Be Sentenced and Jailed as Adults?
Life is so precious, almost too precious. We want to deal with each moment of life with gentle care; we cannot get these moments back once we’ve passed them, and humans are only given the opportunity to live life once. What we chose to do with our lives is an individual choice, completely optional, and one of the most life impacting decisions we will ever make. Unfortunately, everyone does not have the experience or the knowledge to make the proper decision of how they should spend their life. What I find even more unfortunate is that some individuals make this decision too early on in life. It is heart breaking to me that a large percentage of adolescents chose to live a life of misdeed and become juvenile offenders sentenced, and jailed as adults. Mentally incapable of thinking like an adult, teens participate in illegal behavior with consequences they will not be able to bare, robbing them of their childhood. Under any circumstances, though others may strongly disagree, children should not receive adult sentencing or be jailed as adults.
Every day, in courts all over America, children are given adult sentences. Every year, 200,000 youths are tried, sentenced or incarcerated as adults (Steir). How effective is this? Childhood is one ongoing learning process. What lesson is taught here? Serious crimes committed by teenagers are steadily increasing. A quarter of all crimes are committed by offenders under the age of 18, official figures suggest (Doyle). Not only is sentencing them as adults ineffective, I believe it is also morally wrong. Based on criminal behaviors, adolescents are obviously incapable of making well-processed, responsible decisions as adults are. They lack experience and cannot rationalize about the consequence of their actions such as being sentenced to life in prison in an all adult male environment. In addition to lack of