The Reasons Why Kids Should Not Be Sent to Adult Trials

Today, many kids are being sent to adult trial when they commit a crime. The laws about sending juveniles to adult court are unstable, depending on the state. Some states are harsh, while others are against the harsher forms of punishment. Kids should not be sent to adult trials because the kids tend to be more rash, should be dealt with crimes differently, and because there is a better way of handling the more severe crimes that kids do. First of all, kids shouldn’t go to an adult trial because adults are supposed to have a much more refined sense of what is right or wrong. The adult trial is made for people who have a better sense of right and wrong. Adults have learned because of mistakes they have made in their lifetime, such as making regrettable decisions in their past. These actions should have taught them. Therefore, the adult trial is more harsh. It is like comparing a baby to a fifth grader who makes the same error. The fifth grader should know better, but the baby won’t because they do not have any experience. Teenagers, on the other hand, are more rash and hasty. They do not have as much time as adults to make mistakes and learn from them. Also, teenagers will most likely be swayed to do bad things because of what their friends deem as “cool”.

A kid’s personality can be easily changed: from quiet to loud, from brash to peaceful. They can easily be put into bad influences. It is not fair for kids who do not have a lot of knowledge about the world to have to deal with a punishment made for people who should know a lot more. Secondly, kids shouldn’t go to adult trials because of the different purposes of juvenile courts and adult trials. Adult trials focus on punishment and deterring recurrence of crime. Kids and teenagers shouldn’t be put into that. They can be changed. Adults are usually set in their ways and are hard to change, but teenagers are more flexible. Juvenile trials are made for rehabilitation and turning kids back onto the right path. Prison is too harsh and violent for juveniles. When kids get sent into a prison, they can realize the hopelessness of staying in prison for however long their sentence is. They might try to fit in with their new environment, and that might lead to relying on weapons and the gangs in prison. The negative nature of the inmates will also get to the kids. This ruins the potential future for juveniles. Instead, they should be sent to juvenile trials, to rehabilitation, where they can be turned onto the right path again. Last of all, kids shouldn’t go to an adult court because there is a better way of fixing the crime problem.

People should separate the juvenile court into two systems. One half of the court should be for teenagers who commit minor crimes. They should be treated normally with the juvenile trials. However, the other half should be for more serious crimes, such as murder. This will be helpful because then kids will still be going for rehabilitation, but then the punishments won’t be too light. In conclusion, kids should not go to adult trials. The kids do not have as much of a good sense of what is right or wrong. There is a better way of doing things rather than just sending juveniles to an adult trial. Kids should be rehabilitated and sent back onto the right path instead of being sent to prison, as well.