Curious to know what you guys think.

I think until at least 18 or 21 (legal drinking age) kids should not have to serve the same punishments adults. They are still very much in the formative years, still don't always reason well through decisions and still depend on adult role models. Better to remedy the environment in which a child may learn violent behavior and have fewer cases of juvenile delinquency.

I agree completely in the case of minor offences. But in the case of severe offences such as murder, I think the punishment should reflect the crime. While their brains may not be fully developed they still posses the capacity to discern the difference between right and wrong.

Agreed. Except for capital punishment. I don't believe even adults should get that but kids have their whole life before them.

I think that they need a better way of doing this. If a child commits murder or some other very violent crime, they really need appropriate punishment. But for me it isn't the court in which they are tried but rather how they are jailed. I definitely do not support putting kids in with adults for any reason. If they have been found guilty of such a crime then There should really be a separate prison system for their age group. I do not think 18 year olds should even be in adult prison.
There should actually be an effort made to rehabilitate criminals. Some can become law abiding and productive members of society. Many are products of a terrible environment and if given the right kind of help can over come their issues. I also think that instead of just tossing every one in prison, they should be offered the choice of serving in the military rather than prison time. A lot of people learn discipline, and gain skills they would not have had otherwise. Not all, but many.

There's my long answer.

Raise ya damn kids right, if you have kids. There's the short answer.

And the right answer. Sadly those who never were raised right won't likely raise theirs right. It's a sad fact.

Too true. Gotdamn, nixie on fire today.

I have unfortunately seen this in life. My siblings and I were not raised well. I am the ummm.. "Normal" one. My kids know that if mess up there are consequences. I will be damned if I will send delinquents out into the world.

Sorda na... Don't get me started, spoiler: I'm not having kids for a similar reason

I almost decided not to have kids. I woke up on day and for some crazy reason, had the irresistible urge to have babies. Given the state of the world I sometimes wonder if it was a selfish thing to do. All I can do is raise them well and teach them how to spot the jerks and crazies.

Hey, that's way more than most parents think about there kids. Good on ya.

Thanks. And to think there are some who think raising them properly is abuse. Twisted world it is.

That word is all

Help. Me.

If mess up

Yes. That is the word I said I missed. It should have been. "If they mess up".

Thanks for the comment :-) You make some great points.
I think It's a case of having the punishment fit the crime, serious crimes should be met with serious consequences. In the case of rape or murder I think that juveniles should be met with the same or similar punishment as that of an adult but not necessarily tried in the same court.
I definitely agree anyone under the age of 18 should not be sharing the same prison space as adults. In the case of minor offences expending resources into providing rehabilitation programs would definitely serve more beneficial.

I worry that young people who commit these kinds of serious crimes have serious problems. Partly from being raised to be highly narcissistic and spoiled, being kept too comfortable and having every whim met and exceeded, never being allowed to fail or experience disappointment, or from being disciplined poorly. Abused people don't always get over what has been done to them and they go on to do the worst things to others. It's alarming to see the rate that this is increasing also. When I was growing up it wasn't a frequent thing for minors to commit adult crimes. That has changed drastically. I shudder to think what it will be like in 10 more years.

I'm not sure if its just that there is more media coverage or that we are all just living in an increasingly violent and anti social society. What prompted me to ask this question was an ongoing court case that is happening here in Ireland, where a 14 year old girl has been **ped and murdered after been lured to a derelict building by two 13 year old boys. While the case hasn't been settled yet it is becoming obvious that the murder was premeditated and it is scary to think that such young boys could be capable of doing something so heinous. The case is particular shocking because outside of gangland shootings(which seem to happen every week) there is little violent crime in Ireland. Teens however seem to be becoming ever more involved in criminal activity. I think that as you said, it is their narcissistic tendencies that contribute to this. but there is little to nothing being dong to counter this.

*done

That is horrific. There was one here in the US years back where a 15 year old girl who killed a 9 year old little girl by stabbing her, strangling her and slitting her throat. She had planned the murder for quite some time before carrying it out. The victim was her little sister's best friend. Then there was the two 12 year old girls who lured a friend into the woods and stabbed her repeatedly because "slender man told them to." The girl lived thankfully.
I think this kind of thing is nurtured in our society. I think that there would always be mentally ill people or just evil people in general doing atrocious and unspeakable crimes. But I think there could be less if we were raising our kids right as Proteus mentions. It's sad at any rate. I am sure the parents of these kids have a tough road ahead knowing what their kids have done.

Love it 😉

Sorry, there were too many well made and well thought out points soo...

thanks for your contribution anyway ;-)

I think it was some farm implement that trashed things but I'm not sure.

I think it's a problem when kids 12 or so know they won't suffer the same fate as if they did the very same thing a few years later.

Since no one is allowed to lay a hand on children anymore you can see the effects. They get away with insane things now.

What do we do for children that commit serious violent offences that are coerced into doing so, for example teens in criminal gangs ( these youngsters can be threatened by violence to themselves or family if they don’t act )... or at the far extreme of the scale child soldiers like the ones in Africa who are kidnapped and filled full of drugs or ones like the Hitler youth ( or any child political soldiers, Iraq , China, Vietnam, etc) who have lived their whole lives by doing the bidding of these regimes.
I know I’ve gone off on a bit of a tangent here.
If they have acted ‘ of their own accord ‘ we need to truly find out what lead them to their act of violence and how they have rationalised it to themselves and work from that point towards a suitable punishment / rehabilitation.

Peace.

Age for adult criminal prosecution rose from 16 to 18. However, for some extremely serious crimes juveniles may still be tried in adult criminal court.

To be honest, I don't have a strong opinion one way or the other. It seems like anyone who isn't an adult should be tried in a juvenile (or family) court. It is actually less expensive, however, to run someone through adult court/corrections than it is to put them through the juvenile system. In a time when governments are worried most about finances, it can be easier on the coffers to send 16 and 17 year olds to adult court.

Perhaps a simple, single-sentence answer would have done lol. I'll be back to see what the rest of you think about it :)

Thanks for the comment, I was hoping for a discussion so no need to apologise for the long comment ;-) it's unfortunate that finance should have an influence in how people are processed through the court system. People are seldom prioritised over profit.

No, just no...

👌🏻