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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.

Sarasvati said...
on Apr. 23 2013 at 10:37 pm
Sarasvati, Brownsville, Texas
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Has anyone considered peer pressure. Most of the time, teens are either pressured by the type of people surrounding them a.k.a. friends and family. They commit crimes just to feel accepted by their little groupie or they seek attention from their parents because they are neglected. Also, 11 - 15 year olds getting in prison? Really? That is ridiculous and unreasonable in many ways. Plus many of the reasons these supposed adult crimes where done precisely because of that: adults influenced the mentality of these juveniles. They, the teens, might've been abused, neglected, bullied, pushed around, laughed at, and hurt badly and on impulse and adrenalin acted out of line. Yes, they are at fault but adults have partial influence on them, too.
lol18 said...
on Apr. 2 2013 at 9:40 pm
most people do think that so they can learn from there mistakes but if they already know its wrong then they should not do it
lol18 said...
on Apr. 2 2013 at 9:35 pm
i think we should be treated as adults because i am not dum enough to not know that commiting a crime has consequences
mkgfencer said...
on Mar. 14 2013 at 11:17 pm
they should also use proper grammar
MarieAntoinette2014 DIAMOND said...
on Feb. 27 2013 at 2:53 pm
MarieAntoinette2014 DIAMOND, Scottsburg, Indiana
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Why are you blaming the media for parent's of these children's failures? I watched public television with all the crime shows about murder from a young age, and never, have I ever seriously considered comitting a crime of any sort. I live in a poor county with a lot of crime, and most times, the criminals are being raised by people who committed the same crimes when they were young, and quite frankly, still are committing those crimes. Parents: get a grip on your kids and quit blaming the media, please. It makes my job as a blogger, much harder, when people are censoring internet.
rayshawn_22 said...
on Feb. 26 2013 at 6:57 pm
well i think he should be tried as adult cause if you do a adult crime then you should be tried as a adult you are old enough to know right from wrong
urbwiz said...
on Jan. 3 2013 at 10:28 pm
Is this a serious post? 11 year old ought to be tried as adults? This reads as though it was written by an 11 year old. There are DOZENS of studies that show that the human brain isn't finished developing until the mid-20's, and the part of the brain that develops last is the part that evaluates consequences. This is very well documented.  To put it bluntly, most people lack the cognative capacity to reason clearly until they are 23 or so. I was a teen not too long ago, and I remember very well how I thought back then, and I can tell you most people change radically between 15-30, you really become a totally new person.  Instead of throwing 11 year old in prison to be continually raped and victimized, as well insitutionalized into a life of crime, we ought to examine why some younger people commit crimes and put measures in place to prevent them from going down the route that might lead them to crime.
aurora said...
on Dec. 10 2012 at 12:00 am
Wow, good one.
ipray4you said...
on Dec. 5 2012 at 2:12 pm
my best friend got a call saying her 11 year old cousin shot his self from being bullied come to find out the kid that was bullying his mom didnt like my best friends cousins mom and they didnt even know each other i wonder about peple sometimes?
Lucariojf said...
on Dec. 1 2012 at 1:03 pm
this person obvisously didn't read the article in the New York Times kids who are in adult prisons and get out are 30 percent more likely to do another crime sooner and more violently adult prisons don't help reduce crime it increases adult prison is a school for crime not a place to be Scared Striaght 
StevenJLong13 said...
on Nov. 1 2012 at 11:19 am
Most would agree with that, but how many people have had very rough childhoods and have never commited a crime in their life. I feel all parents should have to take some kind of a parenting class. Some parents today spoil their kids way too much, leave them alone in the house at young ages, too much sex and violence being shown on tv, I can tell you from personal expirience that alot of people today do not sensor the internet connection on their chilldrens devices. I could be 8 years old right now and I can go online on any computer, open google and search how to kill someone, and thousands of results come up explaining every detail, household chemicals, how to make bombs, rape, sex, violence. Something has to be done to stop this spread of information. Television is horrible for promoting sexual behavior, drugs, violence. Think about all these movies that are coming out. There's cursing and drug use on tv and lots of sex. No wonder kids are more violent than that of in the past, were feeding it right into their brains via the web and live cable. So yes i believe children over the age of eleven should get tried as adults, because if their smart enough to look up how to do it online than their also smart enough to know that it is wrong. Parents should also not be spoiling there kids. If you give your kids whatever they want and no rules, they are more likely to get into mischeif, hit their parents. On countless occasions what i have seen in this day and age of our society the kids tell their parents what to do and if they don't give it to them, they take it. guess I've veered off of subject a bit but least ya have my vote. Media and tv should be limited a bit more. Internet should be censored, i didnt think so before but, it is in the children of to day and tomorrows future that are going to decide what kind of future our planet has and morales.
ChickenLegHouse BRONZE said...
on Sep. 28 2012 at 9:13 am
ChickenLegHouse BRONZE, Brighton, Michigan
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But what if they were never tought it was wrong?
hi, get out said...
on Sep. 13 2012 at 12:17 pm
i agree but the punishment shouldn't be something like death if they want to kill send 'em off to war.
NIKIKI said...
on Sep. 4 2012 at 2:51 am
I lAb U yeyeyeyeyey....
DreamingOutQuiet SILVER said...
on Jun. 9 2012 at 9:36 am
DreamingOutQuiet SILVER, Round Rock, Texas
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This is such a good point. Once I read an arcticle that was complaining about a 14 year old being tried as an adult, because he didn't know he was doing anything wrong. I could of told anyone way before 14 that raping and beating someone isnt the morale way to go. I mean what the what??
dinotron said...
on Jun. 5 2012 at 12:13 am
Most people say that teens should be able to cumit crimes and not be tride as adults that is why I agree that teens should be punished for the crime they cumite  (^^^)
dinotron said...
on Jun. 5 2012 at 12:11 am
Most people say that teens should be able to cumit crimes and not be tride as adults that is why I agree that teens should be punished for the crime they cumite 
fungirl said...
on Jun. 3 2012 at 11:53 am
I realy agree cuz u just took some one life and now the parent of the victim is diein and i belive they should be sent to adult jail or court
TinkerBell;P said...
on Apr. 26 2012 at 9:29 am
I totally agree because teens dont even take it seriously,Because they feel like since there young they wont treat them like adults .
eshsgirl2012 said...
on Apr. 20 2012 at 1:30 pm
I agree with you. Step up to the plate and be a man! (A woman in my case) We commit the crime, like something severe throw us in jail. We commit something minor, punish us so we learn not to do it again.  Simple as that.