I found this article in the LA times. The article is from 2000 so it's little older, but I felt that it really hit home on the current issue of trying teens as adults. This article was written by a probation officer. It starts out discussing a previous teenager he worked with who commit murder, but was not tried as an adult. He served 3 years in a residential treatment center and when released finished high school and graduated from college. He was able to turn his life around and make something of himself proving the benefits of keeping kids in the juvenile system rather than the adult system. Of course, not all cases have this happy ending. The article continues with a case in Florida where a student was sent home from school for throwing water balloons in the classroom only to return with a hand gun and shoot his teacher. This student was an honor roll student with perfect attendance and no violent behavior in the past. There is debate as to what leads to these violent behavior, for example gang activity, socially unaccepted, poor home life, etc. but this teenager had none of these characteristics. How is the court system to decide if he will murder again or if this is a one time occurrence? Would this one act ruin his life and result in a lifetime in prison? Maybe it isn't a one time event so if they try him as a minor, who is to say he won't commit more crimes in the future?
Some would believe that his actions should result in being tried as an adult, but as the article discusses, when do you determine if someone is past rehabilitation, if ever? How do states determine when to try a child as an adult? In the article, they discuss that "In California, a juvenile must be at least 14 to be prosecuted as an adult. The individual also must be considered criminally sophisticated and have committed at least one of a prescribed list of felony offenses, e.g., murder, rape, carjacking, etc." As social workers we strive to rehabilitate all of our clients and help them make positive changes in their lives. Trying a child as an adult is essentially ruining a child's life with little chance for rehabilitation which is against what social workers stand for. I feel that the author of this article said it well " Let's not, for the sake of politics and political correctness, commit a greater sin by purposely destroying another life."
Absolutely! These children committing violent offenses need the most help. Every child exists in the context of their environment and the chance for rehabilitation should always come first. Locking up a child in prison especially in the adult system only breads criminal behavior. I cannot imagine what it would be like to virtually grow up in prison. Children have limited rights in society for a reason and it is an unreal thought to lock up these children with adults.
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