Should Teens Be Tried As Adults | Teen Ink

Should Teens Be Tried As Adults MAG

By Anonymous

   Should teenagers be tried as adults? Opinions differ. Some people argue that teenagers don't know what they are doing when they commit a crime and are still too young to comprehend what is right and wrong. I totally disagree. I am old enough to know that committing a crime is wrong and that if I commit one, I will be punished. Anyone who says teens can't tell right from wrong is either too old to remember what being a teenager is like or they are a teenager who has committed a crime and don't want to be tried as an adult. In either case, they are wrong. All teens know that killing is wrong, yet they do it anyway and get away with a light sentence because of their age. Even if a teen didn't know it was wrong, it doesn't mean it's right. They should still be punished. If they aren't, they willthink that crimes are okay and continue to commit them.

Teens today don't fear the law because they don't think they will get caught. And if they do, they know they have a good chance of getting off because they are tried as teens and not adults. We have to get tougher on crime. There should be a law that everyone over eleven years old will be tried as adults. That way more teens would be discouraged from committing crimes. They would know that murder would get them a very long sentence instead of staying in juvenile hall until they are eighteen. If we want to cut down on teen crime, we have to have tougher laws. ?





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This article has 323 comments.


Faby said...
on Apr. 10 2018 at 9:21 pm
O artigo de opiniao fala que ?

i love this so much!

kingslayer24 said...
on Oct. 5 2017 at 11:26 am
kingslayer24, Washington Courthouse, Pennsylvania
0 articles 0 photos 1 comment
If you're not first, you're last. ~Ricky Bobby

Sparaxis GOLD said...
on Jan. 3 2017 at 8:31 pm
Sparaxis GOLD, Saint Marys, Georgia
13 articles 1 photo 307 comments

Favorite Quote:
"If you keep on picking on me, I'll mess up again. This time, on PURPOSE."

Yeah! I think once you commit a felony, you should pay for it, NO EXCUSES.

on Nov. 20 2016 at 6:53 pm
GalacticGlitterMen GOLD, Brooklyn, NY, New York
14 articles 0 photos 2 comments
While you raise many valid points, the system you propose could lead to twelve-year-olds serving decades of jail time. I agree that teenagers are intelligent enough to know right from wrong, but the brain of a fourteen-year-old is vastly different from that of an adult, and it has been proven that teenagers are far more likely to be reckless and more irresponsible than adults.

A.Pride said...
on May. 29 2016 at 1:03 am
A.Pride, Visalia, California
0 articles 0 photos 6 comments
It's actually: you're*

A.Pride said...
on May. 28 2016 at 8:20 pm
A.Pride, Visalia, California
0 articles 0 photos 6 comments
Why should a 17 year old guy who committed the same felony as a GROWN man of 35 or 40 be tried equally? Honestly, who should know better? Now, by NO means am I saying that teenagers should be let off the hook; no, they MUST be held accountable for such negative actions but age must be taken into consideration, as it is a major influential factor.

on Apr. 21 2016 at 7:58 am
We think that teens should be tried as adults because they still know what they're doing and what is right and wrong. If an adult committed the same crime as a teenager, the teenager would get less years in jail just because of their age and that is unfair. Everyone should have an equal punishment.

on Mar. 24 2016 at 6:08 pm
ScienceSpirit GOLD, Newtown, Pennsylvania
14 articles 1 photo 14 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living, and your belief will help create the fact." ~William James

I don't think incarceration and similar punishments are the most effective ways to deal with criminals, especially adolescents. Adolescents are at both a vulnerable and a malleable age, which means not only are they more susceptible to internal and external pressures (e.g. peer pressure and existential struggle, the latter which can create a "what matters" attitude), but they are also more likely to respond to behavior therapy and counseling to help them deal with their emotions and defiant urges. Additionally, the prison environment can exacerbate their emotional hurt - there are many cases of fighting and rape in prisons, and youth are often the targets. You argue that adolescents can handle adult punishments because they are capable of moral reasoning. If so, then why do some commit crimes? In the moment, an adolescent criminal does not think. He struggles in his development - he needs care, and not prison, to get him back on track.

on Sep. 15 2015 at 11:08 pm
taytaywilliams52699,
0 articles 0 photos 1 comment
It thank teen should be tryed as an adults because they bow right from wroung I am16 and I did not have great childhood but I not killing innocent people even if I don't like the person I would never do that and I know what right I might still be a teenbut teen now thing we r smart

on Sep. 7 2015 at 9:14 pm
Rainbow_Princess, Columbus, Ohio
0 articles 0 photos 14 comments

Favorite Quote:
"I can accept failure but, I can't accept not trying." ~ Michael Jordan ~

You have a point when my older bro was 13 he was tried as an adult and thrown in jail just because he refused to do the dishes. Old people these days are stupid.

Joeyjo2468 said...
on Dec. 1 2014 at 2:21 pm
Can you post a link of that article please?

on Oct. 12 2014 at 8:16 pm
EmilytheBelleofA. DIAMOND, Athens, Georgia
81 articles 5 photos 1486 comments

Favorite Quote:
To love is to be vulnerable; Triumph is born out of struggle; We notice shadows most when they stand alone in the midst of overwhelming light.

I agree with most it. :) Some parts, I'm not sure about and some parts I don't agree. But I agree with most it. I saw danielstock's comment, and I agree with him. You are a talented and wonderful writer and person. You have a talent and greatness in you. Because you are and you do. :) Thank you so much, for sharing this. I'm so glad htis was published; I don't know this was, but congrats! You deserve it. :) Thanks again. 

on Aug. 29 2014 at 4:51 pm
The_Book_Thief GOLD, Brownville, Nebraska
18 articles 0 photos 22 comments

Favorite Quote:
"And when you gaze long enough into the abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche

I think another problem is child abuse, because that is causing some of the violent thinking. Also, kids who have bad influences on other minors should be arrested or something when one who has been influenced by them commits a crime, since they directly influenced the criminal.

on Aug. 29 2014 at 4:49 pm
The_Book_Thief GOLD, Brownville, Nebraska
18 articles 0 photos 22 comments

Favorite Quote:
"And when you gaze long enough into the abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche

I agree with you in most cases, but I think that teens should be tried as adults, not pre-teens. The punishments should still be raised for severe crimes for pre-teens, but they are not as mature and developed as teenagers. Another thing I would like to disagree on is the idea of the death penalty. I know adults are realisticly sentenced to the death penalty sometimes, but I think pushing that on a teen is too much.

Kenny! said...
on Feb. 25 2014 at 11:11 am
You don't understand how abused people feel if you weren't abused yourself, don't judge them...

on Nov. 20 2013 at 1:08 pm
i know right from wrong and even if i was neglected by parents or family, it wouldnt drive me to do something that serious as killing an innocent person.

on May. 2 2013 at 1:37 pm
danielsock BRONZE, Wautoma, Wisconsin
1 article 0 photos 3 comments
i agree to a point if they do it the first time it should be a minor charge if they do it any more then it should be a adult charge

joker said...
on May. 1 2013 at 11:53 pm
"Don't do the crime, if you can't do the time"

pizzaface said...
on Apr. 30 2013 at 10:38 am
rayshawn great use of grmmar and spelling! your really making progress!