Violent Juvenile Crime example essay topic

447 words
Juvenile justice is an area of criminal law applied to people not old enough to be held responsible for criminal acts. In most states, the age set for criminals is at 18 years. Juvenile law is mainly governed by state law and most states have enacted a juvenile code. Most adolescents do not fear law because, they know they can get away with any thing. Laws should be tougher on juveniles, punishing them for the crime committed and giving them a life-long record. The main goal of the juvenile justice system is rehabilitation rather than punishment.

Violent juvenile crime is particularly chilling. We " re not supposed to be afraid of our children. Juvenile violence rose in the late 1980's through the early 1990's. This provokes an image of teenage psychopaths running wild. Very occasional, but highly-publicized acts of violence by children under 13 engendered a belief that even grade school kids can be criminals. "Not so long ago politicians campaigned by kissing babies.

Today, they lock children in jail (Law and Order)". The justice system is getting tougher on kids but needs to be tougher. One of the main problems is erasing of the criminal record. By making it virtually impossible to collect data about delinquents, it also makes it difficult to evaluate rehabilitation programs.

Employers can't know whether potential employees are prone to steal or other criminal behaviors. The erasing of the record was originally done to deal with delinquents who stole hubcaps, not those who rape, and mug. A brahm Mclaughlin staff writer of the Christian Science Monitor believes "there is a violent core of repeat offenders who may not be adult but are fully capable of committing crimes."It is time to stop pampering punks who rape, murder and assault law-abiding citizens. And I called for adult time for adult crime (Work starts)". Some people will protest that locking kids in jail will just make them worse. This is untrue.

"In Texas the juvenile crime rate offenses dropped by 12 percent after stiffer juvenile crime laws were passed (Tougher Juvenile)". This shows that increasing the punishment for teens will discourage them from committing crimes. Despite all protests laws should be tougher on juveniles. They are no different from the adults that commit the crime, so why should they do less time or have their record erased at the age of 18. All people should be created equal not categorized by age. By being tougher on juveniles crime rates would be lower and city streets will be safer.