Hunter 1

Holly Hunter

Bowyer

Expos Period 2

27 Feb 2017

Who Gets the Life Sentence.

Children are sentenced life in prison without parole in our country every day. One issue

in our society is how we let these children receive 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 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 gain skills
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to cope and handle situations in an appropriate manner (Thompson). As seen in the documentary

Prison Kids, a system for troubled elementary kids was introduced . 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 in 2005

(Jenkins). 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 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

not make sense that these are the kids who need the most help of all? Should they not be allowed
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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.

Word Count: 833

Work Cited

Garinger, Gail. Juveniles Dont Deserve Life Sentences. New York Times 15 Mar.

2012. New York ed.: A35. Print.

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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.