Should Children Who Commit Certain Crimes Be Tried as Adults? Essay Example
Introduction-
Although it may seem that putting adolescents in adult prisons might teach them a lesson, and scare them into correcting the way they behave, it’s not the right decision. Putting children in with violent adults puts them in great danger, it has no effect on crime, and the kids aren’t mature enough to understand what they are doing; therefore children who commit certain crimes should not be tried as adults.
Narration-
Over 2200 juveniles nationwide have been sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Children as young as 13 years old have been tried as adults and sentenced to die in prison, and it is typically without any consideration of their age or circumstances of the offense.
Confirmation 1, Dangers to youth-
Young people that are held in adult jails are at high risk of serious abuse. Children held in jails are twice as likely to be assaulted five times as likely to be sexually assaulted, and up to eight times more likely to commit suicide than youth held in juvenile facilities, and these statistics may be partly the result of the deficient medical services and mental health care that are found in adult jails. Most adult facilities lack the infrastructure, the programs, and the staff to handle youth.
Confirmation 2, No real effect on crime-
There is no evidence that shows that treating children as adults will reduce crime. A study comparing Connecticut, which had the highest Juvenile-to-Adult transfer rate in the US, with Colorado, the state with the lowest rate of transfers, found that the youth crime rate was the same in both states. What these studies do suggest is that juveniles prosecuted as adults are more likely to commit crimes in the future than the kids in the juvenile systems. In a Florida study, for example, researchers found that youth that were processed in the adult courts committed additional crimes more quickly and at a higher rate than those who were tried as juveniles. “Being here with adults,
Although it may seem that putting adolescents in adult prisons might teach them a lesson, and scare them into correcting the way they behave, it’s not the right decision. Putting children in with violent adults puts them in great danger, it has no effect on crime, and the kids aren’t mature enough to understand what they are doing; therefore children who commit certain crimes should not be tried as adults.
Narration-
Over 2200 juveniles nationwide have been sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Children as young as 13 years old have been tried as adults and sentenced to die in prison, and it is typically without any consideration of their age or circumstances of the offense.
Confirmation 1, Dangers to youth-
Young people that are held in adult jails are at high risk of serious abuse. Children held in jails are twice as likely to be assaulted five times as likely to be sexually assaulted, and up to eight times more likely to commit suicide than youth held in juvenile facilities, and these statistics may be partly the result of the deficient medical services and mental health care that are found in adult jails. Most adult facilities lack the infrastructure, the programs, and the staff to handle youth.
Confirmation 2, No real effect on crime-
There is no evidence that shows that treating children as adults will reduce crime. A study comparing Connecticut, which had the highest Juvenile-to-Adult transfer rate in the US, with Colorado, the state with the lowest rate of transfers, found that the youth crime rate was the same in both states. What these studies do suggest is that juveniles prosecuted as adults are more likely to commit crimes in the future than the kids in the juvenile systems. In a Florida study, for example, researchers found that youth that were processed in the adult courts committed additional crimes more quickly and at a higher rate than those who were tried as juveniles. “Being here with adults,