Should teens who commit crimes be tried as adults? The short answer is that it depends on the crime. Now of course we can’t just leave it at that – we’re gonna have to talk this about a little bit and try to find out what is going on in these teens’ heads.
First, a couple of disclaimers. This is an opinion piece. I’m 26 years old, but I’m a bit old fashioned, and my opinions generally reflect that. Also, I’m not a psychologist or a philosophical professor moron who thinks he knows everything about everybody. That’s my disclaimer – read on if I’ve gained your interest.
This conversation has come up in the media quite a few times recently. The most recent case in particular was the group of cheerleaders that beat up one of their 16 year old ‘former’ friends because she wrote some bad stuff about them on myspace. They didn’t just slap her like little girls do, no… They gave her a concussion, damaged her eyesight in her left eye, and her hearing on her left side. How permanent the damage is, I’m unsure. At one point in the beating, they knocked her unconscious. Once she woke up, the beating commenced. Some people have called these girls’ actions a ‘mistake’ or an ‘error in judgement’. There was too much planning and premeditation that went on for this to be a simple ‘mistake’.
Ok, so how should teens be tried? I’ll start with the easy stuff. If a teen shoplifts or commits petty theft, by all means try them as a juvenile. Give ‘em a slap on the wrist, maybe a night or two in kid jail and a month or two of community service. If they continue down the same path, give ‘em two more slaps on the wrist and a week in kid jail. Then sentence them to 6 months community service and probation for a year. If they’ll straighten up, then that’s fine – expunge their record at 18 and let them live their life. However, if they don’t, try them as an adult on their 3rd ‘petty’ offense and give them the full punishment allowed by the law – as an adult.
Now, what if a teenager commits armed robbery? Woah, now that’s big kid stuff. They’re acting like a grownup, and are usually robbing from someone well into adulthood. The courts may not see it the same way that I do, but if anyone possesses the means to do grave bodily harm, or even kill someone, they should be tried as adults for the offense they committed, whether or not it actually resulted in bodily harm to the victim(s). My reasoning for this is that they possess the means to do it. Whether or not they actually possess the will, or the mental fortitude to utilize that means is a whole other subject. I don’t care at all if they didn’t ‘intend’ to hurt or kill someone. Even if all they intended to do was scare their victim into giving them what they wanted, the victim didn’t know that. The victim was in fear for his or her life. That isn’t something to play around with. It especially isn’t something to just ‘forget about’ when a child turns 18 – when their juvenile criminal record is expunged.
My third category is for someone who basically beats up another person, as these cheerleaders did to this other girl. In this case, the ‘victim’ instigated everything by saying the things she did. To me that doesn’t matter. If she instigated it by physically hitting or pushing those girls around, then to me it’s a bit more justifiable. But when someone, or a group of people, plans and premeditates how they are going to hurt someone, that is enough of a case for being tried as an adult in my book. It’s one thing for someone to get pushed around a little bit, slapped a couple of times and maybe even get a couple of bruises – try the offender as a juvenile and let it be done. But when someone is beat unconscious, and then beat some more – that’s too much.
Lastly, I’d like to cover when a juvenile commits murder. In my own simple definition, murder constitutes the killing of an innocent individual. Self defense is not included in this category, obviously. I also realize there are severe cases of abuse – mental, physical and sexual. In some cases, I personally would play the self defense card. I would say that I believe there are cases where a child has no other way out of a situation than to kill the offender. In most cases, however, the child can run away, either to other family members’ homes, or to the authorities. However, I would still play the self defense card in cases where the offender was in the process of harming his or her victim, and the victim retaliated with force. Outside of these circumstances, if a child or teenager commits murder (refer to my definition again), try him as an adult. End of story. If they’re capable of it at such a young age, they’re certainly capable of it later on. Can some be rehabilitated? Possibly. But it’s impossible to tell which ones, or how long they will remain ‘civilized’.
Where I believe a lot of the problems come from when kids are into criminal activity is the parents. I realize that it’s easy to point the finger at them, but it’s where everything starts. Even in the most severe cases where a woman is raped and conceives a child, she can make good choices on how to raise the child, whether she does it herself, or gives the child up for adoption. Now, in my opinion, she should only give the child up for adoption if it is impossible for her to care for the child, which really shouldn’t happen all that much. I do realize there is a lot that goes into making that decision, and I won’t pretend to know everything about it, so please don’t think I’m being inconsiderate. Also, if you’re someone who is adopting a child, you better know what you’re getting into, and be able to care for that child and raise him properly.
Raise your child right – raising them according to the Bible is really the best way. If they get into trouble, punish them. Teach them that there are consequences for their actions. This way they’ll learn responsibility. They’ll learn to make better choices as they grow up, and will be less likely to make bad decisions and make criminals out of themselves.
