Should Juveniles be Tried as Adults? Violent crimes are committed in the United States everyday. Almost one-half of them are committed by teenagers ages 13 through 17. After the crimes have been committed and the lives of these children have been radically changed, society often demands that those who commit violent crimes be tried as adults, rather than as adolescents. Juveniles should be given light sentences and a second chance to return to the streets. Trying these teens as adults unjust and unfair, there other alternatives that our society can turn to, to help make our communities better places to live. We need to realize that children are our future, and we throwing their future away. We also need to ask ourselves if we should possibly be punishing these kids for not having stability in our homes, which is not their fault. Growing up in America today can be a very traumatic experience facing many pressures and trials. The youngest generation looks up to the teenagers for guidance but what kind of example are today's teenagers many concerned parents ask. There could be a much better example if the justice system did not let them get away with so many violent crimes. When a juvenile commits a crime he has a trial in a juvenile
court. The basic idea behind the juvenile court is guardianship, the states acting for the welfare of children. "The jurisdiction and procedure of the juvenile court have been primarily chancery or equity rather than criminal." In a May 1987 issue of Business Week followed up on a case when a 16 year old boy brutally raped and murdered a 26 year old woman in front of her two children ages four and six. After the woman was dead the young man proceeded to shoot the children. The children were not killed, but now live with the horrifying memory of their mother’s brutal death. To make this story even more heart crushing this young man was merely slapped on the hand with a sentence of two years in psychiatric juvenile detention facility. If tried as an adult, this young man would have received 20 to 35 years maximum sentence in a state penitentiary without bail. Maybe this sixteen year old should have gotten more than two years but he came out a man from the detention facility. He matured and learned to be himself, not what other people wanted him to be. Rehabilitation programs are one alternative that has proven successful and helpful. An example of a success story was Trina Leas of Peoria, Illinois. Trina was only 13 years old when she brutally shot and killed her classmate in the middle of class. Trina subsequently attended a local camp for troub
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