Data Bases • Custom Term Papers • Free Term Papers • Free Research Papers • Free Essays • Free Book Reports • Plagiarism? Links • Top 100 Term Paper Sites • Top 25 Essay Sites • Top 50 Essay Sites • Search 97,000 Papers @ DirectEssays.com • Search 101,000 Papers @ ExampleEssays.com • Search 90,000 Papers @ MegaEssays.com Free Essays • Term Paper Sites • Chuck III's Free Essays • Free College Essays • TermPaperSites.com • Free Essays • My Term Papers • Essay World • Planet Papers	Search Lots of Essays Back to Subjects - Government & Politics Children committing adult crimes Children committing adult crimes Children commit adult crimes. The problem is how do we punish them? Should they be treated in juvenile facilities, or punished with adult criminals? In some states, you are considered to be an adult at 17 years old, therefore, as criminals get placed “in adult prisons for more sophisticated training in violent crimes and victimization.”(Pg. 637) The first article; “Adult Crime; Adult Time.” by Linda J. Collier is about how the juvenile delinquents of the world should be thrown right in with the hardened criminals. She talks about the Jonesboro, Arkansas incident in which 11-year-old Andrew Golden and 13-year-old Mitchell Johnson, slaughtered their classmates as they ran from the school building. They pulled the fire alarm and began their assault with a barrage of bullets. In this particular situation, “they are still regarded by the law as children first and criminals second.”(Pg. 620). This has not been the first time that young children have committed such crimes, but the average of violence committed by children has risen by 60% since 1984. She claims that because of these statistics, we need to update the juvenile justice system. “In recent years many states have enacted changes in their juvenile crime laws and some have lowered the age at which a juvenile can be tried as an adult for certain violent crimes.” (Pg. 620) According to this author, she feels that it is a start in the right direction. She claims that she has represented children as a court appointed guardian and is humbled trying to help children out of their difficulties which often due to circumstances beyond their control. Still, for violent crimes, she feels that “children who knowingly engage in adult conduct and crimes should automatically be subject to adult rules and adult prison time.” In the second article “Cruel Punishment for Juveniles” the authors hold a different view from Linda J. Collier. Treating juveniles as adults only helps society to forget that they are really still kids. They feel that subjecting children to adult punishment is cruel and unusual. They think, “Most youthful wrong-doers do not become adult criminals. There are turning points----quality education, well paid work, stable marriage------ that helps young offenders become law-abiding adults.” (Pg. 637) Certain community youth programs that deal with kids have shown to work in dealing with juveniles. Smith and Chester talk about Frankie; a 17 year-old who was arrested for breaking and entering. His parents opted to have him spend the night in jail. “If the politicians have their way, children like Frankie could be locked up with experienced adult inmates.” (Pg. 638) His parents regretted leaving Frankie in jail for one night. As they watched him being led out in chains, “his parents think that one night killed something in Frankie. Maybe it was his childhood.” (Pg. 638) Both of these articles deal with certain ideas about criminals. The first one feels that we are too lenient on childhood offenders. The first author was a lawyer who represented children as a court appointed guardian. She felt that even though many of these juvenile crimes were a result of their upbringing, punishing them as juveniles was not enough. On the other hand, the authors of the second article are against punishing juveniles in adult prisons. Since sexual and physical assaults are every day occurrences in prisons “they feel that sending children into adult prisons might as well be a death sentence.” (Pg. 637) They feel that many violent juvenile homicides are due to the easy access of guns by youth. They feel instead of “banning guns, we banish kids. (Pg. 637)” It should be the other way around. The second article seems the most convincing to me. It makes much greater sense to try to prevent juvenile crime with community-based programs. Juvenile offenders in adult prisons only make future adult criminals. For really violent crimes, a separate, but high security juvenile prisons may be an answer. But for someone like Frankie, a first-time offender being “treated” rather than punished may make all the difference in his life. Bibliography: Word Count: 674
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