John Doe
Ghosoph
English 1
3/27/14
Juvenile Justice
From the very second we become conscious of our surroundings we are learning. Every day we grew and learned lessons that we would practice throughout the rest of our lives. Some lessons were seemingly harder than others. We always choose to learn the hard way. But what happens when choosing to learn the hard way leaves you with someone dead and your life hanging in the balance of a jury? This is what more and more kids today are finding out. What needs to be reconciled is that these are kids, not some hardened career criminals. We should not convict juveniles to life in prison because this will push the government to work on finding out a cause to what makes a child’s brain think like this, and how to prevent future incidence. More and more frequently kids that are not even old enough to get their drivers licenses are making rash decisions and committing murder, and their lives stand in the balance of 12 people in a jury box.
In May of 2001 a fourteen-year-old middle school student was convicted of second degree murder. His immaturity was easily seen throughout the court case as he was unable to give a definite reason why he did such a thing. This quandary has lead people to look into the anatomy of the growing brain for an answer. In Paul Thompson’s article, “Startling Finds on Teenage Brains” Thompson talks about how the brain changes over the course of a young teenager’s life. He states that there is “… a massive loss of brain tissue that occurs in the teenage years” (7), and that the part of the brain that is vastly deteriorating is “… in the areas controlling impulses, risk-taking, and self-control” (7). Who is to blame here? On one hand, some may argue that this kid is clearly troubled and needs to be locked away from normal society. On the other hand, I believe this kid, along with plenty of others, made a very quick and irrational decision without thinking about the consequences that would follow. I would like to argue that this behavior, irrational unto itself, is not uncommon at the age of fourteen, but rather the degree of his actions, committing a murder, is what should be noted with extreme caution.
When we see kids playing, they are often involving something they saw on Television, movies, or a video game. Is this the cause of the numerous juvenile court cases with many facing life in prison? In some respects yes. What environments we are exposed to directly affect our decisions and how we act. In another point of view kids like Thomas A. Preciado, who was fourteen when he committed murder, should be old enough to rationalize what consequences come following impulsive and harsh actions. In Marjie Lundstrom’s article “Kids Are Kids-Until They Commit Crimes” she tells us how Thomas “…reportedly claimed he was mimicking a TV program about little girls who rob a bank…” (12) And he was given 26-years to life for stabbing a minimart clerk.