McBride 1

Caileigh McBride

Bowyer

Expository, period 2

27 February 2017

Children Are Not Adults

Under eighteen and locked up with adults. Homicidal children in the United States are

being tried as adults and sentenced to life in prison at alarming rates. Excessive punishment and

revenge is not always the answer especially when it comes to adolescents. Children are not

adults. This should be taken into account when sentencing a minor for his or her crimes. We

must consider what is best for society children are our future, we should focus on rehabilitation

for juvenile delinquents, give them the chance to make a positive impact. Though homicidal

children should be held responsible for their crimes, children are inherently not adults, and

therefore should be tried accordingly.

Many argue that a child who is mature enough to murder another human is mature

enough to go to prison. Jenkins asserts that a sixteen or seventeen-year-old capable of forming

[this extreme] criminal intent should be treated as an adult (Jenkins). However, in our country

juveniles are not allowed to smoke, drink, vote, or go to R rated movies because they are only

kids (Lundstrom). We do not allow our children to partake in these activities because we believe

children are too immature, too young. That is, until they commit a crime (Lundstrom). As soon

as an adolescent takes another life we are quick to call them adults and throw them in prison with

thirty-year-old men. Lundstrom calls this a glaring inconsistency (Lundstrom). If a child is not

old enough to watch a bloody, violent, inappropriate film about prison inmates, he sure is not old
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enough to live in those conditions. Even the most violent kids do not belong with those in the

prison system, because they are different.

While it does not in any way negate criminal culpability, or excuse violent conduct, the

difference between an adult and child offender can be seen in the brain (Jenkins). Thompson

observes that during their teenage years, juveniles experience a massive loss of brain cells

and connections in the areas controlling impulses, risk-taking, and self-control (Thompson).

Children are not adults, their brains prove it, for this reason it is unethical to lock up fifteen-year-

olds for the rest of their lives. Kids simply cannot be held to the same standards when they

commit terrible wrongs (Garinger). The juvenile court system exists specifically because

children do not belong in prison with adults. Children deserve the benefit of the doubt that they

are capable of change.

Homicidal juveniles are deemed hopelessly defective, they are born evil, and will grow

up to be even worse unless contained (Garinger). In reality, a vehement kid is often the product

of a harsh, cruel environment. This shows the vast immaturity of a child taking out his explicable

behavior in the form of violence. Gail Garinger, a former juvenile court judge has seen the

enormous capacity of children to change and turn themselves around (Garinger). Just like a

short time-out for saying a bad word, children are able to learn from their mistakes when given

the chance. This malleability makes them promising candidates for rehabilitation

(Garinger). Every child makes mistakes, some greater than others. This is not to say that

homicide should go unpunished, just that a child should not have to pay his whole life to a

mistake he could have learned from. Juveniles should have the opportunity to better themselves

and see a life away from violence. Prison is a cruel setting, Marjie Lundstrom contends that

adolescents squeezed through the adult system are more likely to come out [more] violent
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(Lundstrom). Adolescents learn from their atmosphere, if a kid grows up in a hate-filled prison, it

is unlikely that he will come out a law-abiding citizen, simply because it was not the way he

grew up. It is clear that juveniles should be given the chance to rehabilitate, and show the world

that they learned from their mistakes.

Children are distinguished from the rest of the population because they are different.

Children are not fully matured, as their brains are still developing. Therefore, adolescents cannot

be held to the same standards as adults not in driving, and not in crime. A juveniles unique

ability to improve upon their mistakes makes evident that rehabilitation is more efficient than

sitting in a vicious prison cell.

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Work Cited

Garinger, Gale. Juveniles Dont Deserve Life Sentences. New York Times 15 Mar. 2012, New

York ed.: A35. Print.

Jenkins, Jennifer Bishop. On Punishment and Teen Killers. Juvenile Justice Information

Exchange. 2 Aug. 2011. Web. 11 June 2012.

Lundstrom, Marjie. Kids Are Kids-Until They Commit Crimes. Sacramento Bee 1 Mar. 2001:

A3. Print.

Thompson, Paul. Startling Finds on Teenage Brains. Sacramento Bee 25 May 2001: B7. Print.