Tranae Conard

Melina Probst
English 1102
12/3/2015
Should Kids Be Tried As Adults?
Mitch stood there waiting for the verdict. A 16 year old boy who realized that what was done or
had been done was something awful. Mitch thought that the jury would decide a harsh
punishment where its being in a detention home or having to do probation, the worst thought
Mitch had was the death plenty or being in prison for numerous numbers of years. However, by
Mitch being 16 meant that he was still a kid. Which lead the jury to come up with a reasonable
verdict. Was he going to be tried as an adult or was he going to get away with murder. Being
tried as an adult at a young age is not necessary. When people see youth they may overlook the
fact that they are young and their brain hasnt fully developed. Not understanding that there not
mature, but putting a child in prison or trying them as an adult can mess up there whole life.
When this happens the child may go through different obstacles like relapse by doing things
again and not learning from their mistakes, therapy, and bad behavior after a child is tried as an
adult.
There are kids out in the world today that have committed a violent crime at a young age and
dont even know the consequences. Researchers explains the reasons why young adults or
children commit such violent crimes. When it comes to children or young adults, public fear
makes youth crime and being scared of the public makes young adults feel endangered of being a
victim (Maguire& Pastro 1996) (Boxer CH.1). Which leads to trying to explain a story or telling

the truth, making a child immature not knowing what is right from wrong. At that age the child is
unaware of things around them. Some children or young adult may not consider what they did as
a crime and they tend to forget what they did in the past or refuse to give up important
information even if they actually remember (Boxer CH 2). As recent studies have shown that
juveniles are more likely to be rehabilitated than adult offenders, which makes harsh laws
represent a dramatic shift away from previous policies that views adolescences as a period of
development immaturity. Juvenile defendants must exhibit the same level of capacity as adults in
order to be committed. However, young offenders are more likely to respond and be beneficial
from rehabilitation. (Green and Evelo pg. 280-286).
From these harsh punishment approximately 2,500 juveniles have been sentenced to life without
parole. (280-281). A child has to sit behind bar because of not knowing what they did was wrong
or it may have been an accident. There are children who die in prison and are not able to have a
second try at life. As a young adult that is tried as an adult faces life without parole, death
penalty, or a longer sentence. Recent studies have shown that although people believe juveniles
should be held accountable for their actions and crimes they commit there should be a chance to
see if they can change their behavior. Serving a life sentenced without parole is harsh on a child
or young adult because they are compared to adults which shouldnt be the case but they spend
more years and large proportions of their lives behind bars. Studies also show that a Supreme
Court rule states that those who commit non homicide offense at the age of 18 are ineligible for
life without parole. They also favor policies that acknowledge diminished responsibility in
adolescences and also provides an opportunity for juveniles to work on themselves as in
rehabilitation. (277 -283). Researchers states that murder of a stranger, car theft, sexual assault,
drug sales, murders of an abusive parent, armed robbery of a person, assault resulting in injury

are the main crimes that juveniles commit. Which their age ranges from 10-21 years of age and
then end up with life without parole. When it comes to murder of an abusive parent, armed
robbery and car theft, the age ranges from 10-17 years of age and they even get sentenced with
life without parole. (280-284). Researchers gives comments from people who have different
attitudes on certain juries sentencing and how they view their cases. These attitudes are called
punitive attitudes which means people who have the desire to punish and or discipline and the
other attitude is rehabilitation attitudes which means these people want rehab punishment. Some
comments were offenders must be punished so they cannot cause any further harm to the
community, punish them to make them repay debt to society.( 283) Wanting to punish a child
for a long time in prison and getting sentenced to life is not repaying society or owning up to
their actions. Its simply putting young children behind bars to suffer and learn nothing from bad
experiences and ruining a child childhood not even able to learn from their mistakes without
getting a second chance. A sentence without parole rejects the fact of having a second chance.
What a lot of people dont understand is that sometimes the punishment that is given is not
always the right punishment. They say that a human brain is not fully developed and doesnt
reach fully maturity until the age of 25. Therefore, by a putting a kid in prison is not the best
choice, and depicting a childs life is cruel punishment.
The best way to avoid cruel punishment is by therapy for a child to have a second chance at life
instead of being sentenced for life at a young age. According, to the article Juvenile Delinquent
Treatment and Prevention: A Literature Review, they say doing therapeutic work gives a child
or a juvenile a chance to take responsibility for their wrong doings and learning how to be held
accountable for the crimes that have committed. A program called Multisystem Therapy has a
goal to help delinquents through group therapy process so they are able to identify their bad

habits and behaviors. Also, they help delinquent control and manage their anger.(May, Osmond
and Billick)(pg297-299) . Therapy should always be an option or young adults or children so
they can learn from their mistakes and be able to change their behavior. By suggesting therapy
keeps a lot of juvenile offenders out of prison and from behind bars. When young adults or
children are tried as adults it messes up their childhood where they are not fully aware of whats
going to happen, but when a child is put behind bars they are in need of therapy. Juveniles need
therapy to help with a new life they have come encountered with along the way. Studies prove
that individual delinquents also stated that they had clear understanding and able to see and
recognize how their behavior improved even with family relationships and being able to create
their own future and owning up to their own actions becoming responsible young adults.(May,
Osmond and Billick)(298-300). However, therapy is also good for kids that are tried as an adult
around ages 6-10 instead of putting them behind bars for a long period of time. There are early
childhood interventions that can help fix whatever that is going on by supporting educational
programs. Intervention programs that target multiple risk factors are getting superior results.
Which makes therapy a good choice, therefore therapist are allowed to have weekly home visit
for 29 min with the child and mother to see how the that child is doing by helping and
understanding their behavior on everything in a comfortable environment.(298-300). When it
comes to sentencing and life without a parole happens with a young adult or child it
automatically rejects rehab.
As research goes on to show case studies that prove and show no rehab was given to a juvenile
after committing a crime. 120 Ohio St 3d 540(2009) vs. The State of Ohio, Appellee, D.H. In
this case a 15 year old boy fired a gun into a melee outside his friends house. He shot one of his
friends in the leg and actually killed his friends sister. Where he was charges with two counts of

murder of a firearm and two counts of murder of a firearm of felony. However, the court may
enforce the adult portion of the sentence at later time if the juvenile commits certain acts that
shows that the juvenile disposition has been unsuccessful in rehabilitation. But in this case, the
jury had to look at the fact that someone had died and that an 15 year old boy made the wrong
decision and they were able to understand and look at that a different way. They understood the
fact that were dealing with a 15 year old boy and they still enforced adult punishment. The jury
explained how the juvenile was a minor child that committed reckless homicide so the jury
dropped a few of his chargers. However, the jury had to realize the fact that someone had died in
this reckless activity which is murder so they split his sentencing in half by giving him 3years in
prison and giving him a new family. In this case things were different he was able to get out in 3
years instead of life without parole because the jury consider the fact that he was still a minor
who made an mistake and was willing to own up to his actions. After serving his 3 years, therapy
was a well beneficial factor.
Researchers also show another case where a 17 year boy is charged with life imprisonment of
consecutive amount of years without parole on the aggravated- murder counts and additional 19
years in the remaining counts and specification. He was found guilty of 2 counts of aggravated
murder, 3 counts of felonious assaults and one count of disarming a firearm. But Eric Long, the
17 year boy was convicted of one count of carrying a concealed weapon. Attempted to argue his
case because the court failed to consider him as a minor which in the 8th amendment says that
youth is a huge factor. Which they consider but still tried him as an adult, which made his
argument not strong enough. (The State Of Ohio, Appellee, V. LONG, Appellant. Supreme Court
of Ohio). Therefore, this two cases were able to provide examples and thoughts on how these

two juveniles committed the same crime and ended up with two different sentences one got a
lesser charge and the other child was sentenced to life without parole.
In Conclusion, children should not be tried as adults because when sentencing a harsh
punishment does not lead to a lesson taught it leads to a child who has gotten put in a bad place
where a child does not belong. A child should be able to learn from their mistakes by therapy and
rehab not sitting behind bars at the age of 10. Researchers shows that being tried as an adult is a
cruel punishment. As the child gets older the brain development changes. Their surrounding are
different and their environment has change around them and they only know what they see and
who their around. Therefore, that leads to bad behavior possibilities of relapse and therapy and
how the brain development changes. Research states that therapy is a great source to help with
bad behavior, brain development changes and relapse. Young adults or juveniles need therapy
and rehab so they have a chance to get back in tract with their lives. A child doesnt know better
if what he/she may done and thats not fair to just to try them as adults if they are not even fully
consider an adult yet. So kids being tried as adults and putting them in prison without parole is
like not having a second chance at life. If justice needs to be served , then let justice be served
the right way and let a child get another chance a life dont let that child die behind bars.