Hunter 1

Holly Hunter

Bowyer

Expos Period 2

27 Feb 2017

Who Gets the Life Sentence.

Children are sentenced life in prison to prison for life without parole in our country every

day. One issue in our society is how we let these children recieve gain a life sentence in prison

before theyve experienced anything in their life. The supreme court has decided to abolish

mandatory life in prison for juveniles, but many other Americans have not been so lenient. These

young adults should still be held accountable for their crimes, but pushing them through the adult

prison system for life is not the way to handle it.

Juveniles are biologically different than adults. Brain imaging studies reveal that regions

responsible for controlling thought, actions and emotions are not fully developed in adolescence

(Garinger). This, however, is no excuse or deciding factor for young people to misbehave and get

away with crime, it is simply just a factor to consider when discussing life in prison for these

minors. Few believe that criminal genes are inherited, except in cases of parental abuse and

negative home lives where it leaves children with little hope and limited choices (Grainger).

Brazill, a thirteen-year-old boy, brought a gun to school and shot to shoot a teacher he considered

one of his favorites because she did not let him say goodbye to some classmates on the last day

of class (Thompson). Now older, Brazill sees it as a stupid mistake (Thompson). We notice

these troubled children, such as Brazill, dont seem to understand how to handle emotions and

because of this we need a system to help children who make these horrible stupid mistakes
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gain skills to cope and handle situations in an appropriate manner (Thompson). As seen in the

documentary Prison Kids, a system for troubled elementary kids, or any other level kids, is

introduced necessary. In this alternate system, they had it so if a child acted up they could go

there to get help with coping skills and behavior/attitude, it was an alternative to calling the

police if the children acted in a threatening way or if the school did not want to handle it

themselves (Prison Kids).

Some may think these children are being sentenced to die in prison. However, children

are not being sentenced to die in prison, the juvenile death penalty was abolished years ago, in

2005 (Jenkins). And In fact, the ones who are receiving the sentence for life in prison are the

ones who have killed multiple people. But the real question here is are we caring for these felons

and attempting to help them on the right path not if they are just getting sentenced to die? If

these, or any other minor who commits a crime, is thrown into the criminal justice system they

are more likely to be a repeat offenders. If theyre thrown into the juvenile justice system,

however, the likelihood is lowered due to the focus of the system being rehabilitation rather than

punishment (Prison Kids). Therefore, we shouldnt allow our children to be thrown into the adult

criminal justice system: to ensure they do not end up repeating crimes such as murder, and to

ensure the safety of our loved ones and our community.

A new generation of criminals in the 1990s arose with no mental flaws or harsh

backgrounds, who simply just wanted to experience the thrill. In 1990, a teenager shot and killed

a pregnant woman and her husband, when the teenagers friend testified for him he explained that

it was a thrill kill and the boy had wanted to see what it would be like to shoot someone

(Jenkins). These are the kids that make people want to lock up juvenile criminals forever, the

ones who make it seem like there is no hope for deviating the kids from the violence. But, does it
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not make sense that these are the kids who need the most help of all? Should they not be allowed

the chance to receive help and coping skills, because even though it was supposedly for the

experience and thrill. Does it not scream louder than words that there is an underlying issue

that needs to be resolved? Therefore, we need to put minors into the juvenile system and not

sentence them to life in prison, because they need help and rehabilitation not sole punishment.

Many minors have fallen victim to life in prison. As Lundstrom said the bigger the

crime, the more eager we are to call them adults and throw them into the adult criminal justice

system because of it (Lundstrom). It is time to start helping the kids we love and stop calling

them adults when the crime is too big and scary for us to handle. The juvenile justice system was

created for a reason, it should not just be set aside when someone does not believe they can

change, because chances are lower they will commit another crime if they are put into the

juvenile justice system and higher if thrown into the adult criminal justice system. Therefore, the

adult prison system isnt the way to handle youth crimes, but holding the youth accountable is.

still mandatory.

Word Count: 839

Work Cited

Garinger, Gail. Juveniles Dont Deserve Life Sentences. New York Times 15 Mar.
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2012. New York ed.: A35. Print.

Jenkins, Jennifer Bishop. On Punishment and Teen Killers. Juvenile Justice

Information Exchange. 2 Aug. 2011 Web. 11 June 2012. <http://jjie.org/jennifer-

bishop-jenkins-on-punishment-killers/19184>.

Lundstrom, Marjie. Kids Are Kids Until They Commit Crimes. Sacramento Bee 1

Mar. 2001: A3. Print.

Thompson, Paul. Startling Finds on Teenage Brains. Sacramento Bee 25 May 2001:

B7. Print.

Prison Kids Juvenile Justice. Prison Kids Juvenile Justice. Incarceration Nation, 18 July

2016. Web. 21 Feb. 2017.