The juvenile justice system is failing to protect citizens from the surge in violent crimes committed by juveniles. One problem is that the system was designed to help troubled youth who commit minor offenses; however, 75 percent of the current cases in juvenile court involve felonies. What is needed is a system that protects society from violent juvenile offenders, efficiently rehabilitates juveniles who can be saved, and knows how to tell the difference. Core principles of such a system are to remove many violent offenders from the juvenile system, limit juvenile confidentiality, and deliver real rehabilitation. Other principles that would improve the system are to make juveniles and their parents accountable for their behaviors, to intervene early to prevent violence later, and to keep juveniles away from guns. Part II of this paper argues that America's juvenile justice system must emphasize punishment along with solid rehabilitation systems, especially for those juveniles who have committed violent crimes. It contends that all violent juveniles should be tried in adult courts and be subject to adult sentences.

https://www.ncjrs.gov/app/publications/abstract.aspx?ID=167336
Let us take a look at the statistics reported from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2011: Crime in the United States 2010. The report from the U.S. Government Department of Justice released in December 2013. Law enforcement agencies in the U.S. made 1.6 million arrests of persons under age 18 in 2010. Overall, The number of arrests of juveniles in 2010 was 21% fewer than the number of arrests in 2001. The following data is valid and shows a much more realistic approach to dealing with juvenile crime and the stiffer penalites associated with the crime. Of the crimes committed by juveniles under the age of 18 the highest arrests were not violent as one might expect, murder and nonnegligent manslaughter was 1,000 of 1.6 million arrested. The other crimes of highest proportion were larceny-theft at 281,100 arrests, other (simple) assaults