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.


alvarobjj said...
on Jun. 23 2010 at 8:08 pm
for the guy that debate about this topic, hey dude can you help me with some arguments and facts ? i also have to dabe this topic !

on Jun. 22 2010 at 1:14 am
ManthaVannah BRONZE, FT Riley, Kansas
1 article 0 photos 1 comment
i agree with you and you put will and think as one word, but i still agree with you and it would be awsome if your article changed things

JT493 said...
on Jun. 1 2010 at 10:00 pm

I don't think teens should be tried as adults because if you have other websites saying " That teens who get tried as adults either gets raped, abused, or commit suicide" so no teens should not have to go through that at all, even if their wrong for commit a crime!... So im truly against that because Im truly sure if the person who wrote this went through what teens have to go through now got treated the exact same way that teens now are being treated being tried as adult.

 


Kasumi BRONZE said...
on May. 29 2010 at 9:55 pm
Kasumi BRONZE, Mequon, Wisconsin
2 articles 0 photos 35 comments

Favorite Quote:
Life can be hard and sad, but there is good things in life, too

I did a debate on this topic. 

I was on the side that teens should not be tried as an adult. 

But I have to say, it depends for me. But generally, they really should be tried as adults.  


on May. 26 2010 at 5:25 pm
JaguaariLilly BRONZE, Santa Rosa, California
1 article 1 photo 12 comments

Favorite Quote:
“Somehow we survive; we don’t even try - we don’t like who we are; but we pretend anyway. Because we’re human as such… we long for someone to touch, a little death to escape, a shallow grave with a face.” - "Anyone" by Moving Units

 

your arguement makes no sense.  and learn  how to spell correctly, its schizophrenia. how can you blame some one for being mental, and say they should be punished because someone else gave them the weapon?  just because you're frustrated, furious, grieving and hopeless for your loss does not give you, or any other blockhead the right to take out your anger on the person who  you believe is responsible for the said crime.  your pathos based arguement isn't going to sway my views.  you're angry at the 'murder' and  tell yourself he isn't crazy because you want to believe that this wasn't an accident so you can wallop in self pity.  well thats at least my guess of whats happened since you can't even spell schizophrenia right, indicating your ignorance on mental illnesses.  but let me say this: if he was pretending, then fuck that shit head.  from what i've said i'd understand you to judge me as a un-emotional detached person.  well, thats far from the truth; i know agony. I know whats its like to lose someone, even when they aren't dead.  I don't like being separted from people that i met at band camp.  but yeah, my great grandma died, so did my grandpa, other one i didn't know.  maybe i'll put up my personal essay, so you can read that i am sensitive.  anyways have a nice day.


on May. 26 2010 at 3:38 pm
krazykathleen BRONZE, Edwardsville, Illinois
1 article 0 photos 99 comments

Favorite Quote:
"7/5 of all people do not understand fractions." -Unknown

I think you are being very insensitive to VarsityCheerGirl916. Have you ever lost someone close to you? If you have, you know how much pain it cause you and the people around you. My friend's dad, also my neighbor and church pastor was shot and killed GIVING A SERMON on a Sunday morning. Her family has gone through so much as well as mine. The man was charged with murder, but was ruled incompetant to stand trial because of his "skitzophrenia." Uh huh. Sure. Yea blame it on the apparent voice in his head. He had that planned, and his family and friends should not have given this person a gun, knowing he was mental. My point is people who are disabled should be punished for commiting a crime because they should not be given knives or guns in the first place. Teens should also be punished as adults for commiting adult crimes. I am sooo sorry for your loss.

on May. 23 2010 at 11:34 pm
JaguaariLilly BRONZE, Santa Rosa, California
1 article 1 photo 12 comments

Favorite Quote:
“Somehow we survive; we don’t even try - we don’t like who we are; but we pretend anyway. Because we’re human as such… we long for someone to touch, a little death to escape, a shallow grave with a face.” - "Anyone" by Moving Units

I don't think he did know what he was doing.  im sorry this happened but, this kid who committed murder was probably mentally ill or abused considering his reply.  "she called me stupid". why would this provoke someone to kill another?  its offensive yes, to be called to stupid but to react extremely violently to something like this implies something is deeply wrong about that kid who stabbed a chick 6 times. just sayin...

on May. 23 2010 at 11:16 pm
Swindlewick SILVER, ..., Washington
8 articles 2 photos 50 comments

Favorite Quote:
"I do not agree with what you have to say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." ~Voltaire

What do you mean by this?

on May. 23 2010 at 8:31 pm
VarsityCheerGirl916, Harrisonville, Missouri
0 articles 0 photos 6 comments

Favorite Quote:
Giving up doesn't always mean you're weak. Sometimes it just means you're strong enough to let go.

One of my closest friends 14-year old Katie Rios was brutally MURDERED in January 2010 by her 16 year old cousin. He stabbed her 6 TIMES while she was on the phone trying to call her mom for help. When he was questioned at his trial, the reason he gave for his actions was that "she called me stupid". Because of one comment she made that many relatives often make to each other, her innocent life was ended. He knew what he was doing when he stabbed her. He took this little girl who was a light in the lives of many away from us. He removed her from this earth and deeply hurt those who knew her. Should he not have been charged as an adult? I think that he deserved everything he received in his sentence. A life ended is not something you can replace the way you can replace a diamond ring or television. If you had to experience what I have been through these past 5 months, if you lost someone that you loved do to a HEARTLESS KILLER; you would no longer oppose the charging of teens as adults. Think of the people in this world that have to live every day of their lives with only pictures and memories of the people they love because of the brutal actions of a teenager.

trig05th said...
on May. 23 2010 at 4:13 pm
well i speak as a person who was charged as a adult when i was a teen. i served 4 years in the youthful offender system 'prison' for burglary! i had two other co defendents and they received teen sentences such as juvie? why? why was i excluded? you ask me the state and its laws are just warped veiws of rich peoples opinions! this is are life help people dont kill them off or send them awy its easy to send people away! you go to prison and see how that changes you for the better......

on May. 21 2010 at 12:23 pm
diya_101 BRONZE, Dubai, Other
1 article 0 photos 2 comments
i think teenagers are well off as teenagers and adults and teenagers should never be mixed for we have different points of views and iunique ideas which can never be compromised with the practical and well-maintained minds of adults.

SuNsHiNe1 said...
on May. 17 2010 at 10:41 am
they know what they  are doin and should be convicted

on May. 15 2010 at 7:04 pm
Thinker PLATINUM, Na, Connecticut
47 articles 0 photos 82 comments

Favorite Quote:
A wise word does not make the speaker wise.

So, if I understand the author correctly, people should be punished dispite the rights they are denied due to a number? Have you ever hear the line "No taxation without representation?" the war call of the beginning of our country? This is where the idea that people shouldn't pay for things they don't benifit from. It isn't that teens don't know better, it that they don't have the RIGHT to know better.

The_End GOLD said...
on May. 13 2010 at 5:31 pm
The_End GOLD, Ashton, Idaho
10 articles 0 photos 31 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Any man can stand adversity. If you truly want to test a man's character, give him power." Abraham Lincoln

I understand that every case has its own circumstance, but I agree with the author.

on May. 11 2010 at 6:42 pm
yall need 2 stop arguing.RL iang13 is right. ITS THE LLAAWWWWWWW

twavia said...
on May. 11 2010 at 6:32 pm
i agree. if a teen comits a adult crime the teen should b treated like an adult.

Whitley1 said...
on May. 10 2010 at 3:03 pm
I have to say I disagree with the article because there are many aspects not taken into consideration like the child's background as in their environment of which they grew up in,the psychological state of the child,the mental state of those that raised them.Yes I agree there are many teenagers out there committing crimes carelessly but look at everything before judgement is passed. Regardless of wether or not they know right from wrong when felt forced into a situation where they  commit a horrible crime such as killing someone who has bullied,and beated them up with no remorse or thought put into what they are mentally and psychically doing to them can you charge them as adults simply because they should know right from wrong?

brooklynn. said...
on May. 9 2010 at 9:51 am
brooklynn., Louisville, Kentucky
0 articles 0 photos 7 comments
I think they should be tried as adults. Growing up, we all have a natural instinct of what's right and wrong, and by the time we're about twelve or thirteen, sometimes younger, we should be well aware of the choices we make. Every person has common sense, it's not hard to figure out. Teens need to learn how to accept full responsibility instead of taking advantage of the law.

strawberry said...
on May. 5 2010 at 6:23 am
it such a nice article.short but full of useful content.....i use it for 2010 debates..

We-R-3 BRONZE said...
on May. 1 2010 at 9:45 pm
We-R-3 BRONZE, Orlando, Florida
1 article 0 photos 344 comments

Favorite Quote:
A picture is worth a thousand words, however it takes a real artist to turn words into pictures.

Have you heard about the new Lebron Iphone, you have to set it on vibrate because it doesn't have any rings

Good article and it is true if you take someones life youshould be sentanced to life.