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A moral compass is how we lead our sense of direction in life. The way we think, feel, and act is what causes us to be our own human self. Those who fall off the scale end up not only ruining their life, but those surrounding them. Teenagers, who are still learning how to read their compass, often struggle to understand their morals. For the teenagers that lose their sense of direction, they become juvenile delinquents. These juveniles that commit crimes should not be handed a lighter sentence due to their age. I believe that everyone of every age knows the difference between right and wrong, good and bad, and happiness and pain.
A crime is a crime - age should not lessen, or increase, the sentence a juvenile receives. If someone can handle the mental capacity to complete a crime, then they have the mental mindset to understand the consequences that follow. Take a second to think about the opportunities a juvenile could have once they reached an older age; connections to mature adults, the amount of money in their pocket, experiences that could create chaos. If someone under eighteen can commit a crime, we should be thankful that we caught them before they morphed into something far more dangerous.
In this video, Lionel Tate, a twelve year old boy, was charged with 2nd degree murder for “wrestling” with a six year old girl. However, the case was dismissed due to the lack of a mental capacity test being taken in the beginning of the trials. Tate served a few years on probation before committing his next crime at seventeen years old - gunpoint robbery. As Tate shows, a criminal mind never escapes, although provided guidance through counseling and rehabilitation.
Mental Capacity
Mental Capacity
According to the Care To Be Different organization, a mental capacity assessment is "not a statement of a person’s ability to make decisions in the future. It’s about a decision that needs to be made now." However, during a court trial, mental capacity assessments are taken after the alleged crime has been completed. So what is to say that the defense might purposely fail that test, to gain leadway on their trail.
Referring to David Dobbs article, "Beautiful Brains", he conquers that since the brain is maturing, although already 90% of it's full size by the age of six, children and teenagers do not know how to comprehend the actions taking course in their lives. The prefrontal cortex controls the idea of good vs. bad, impulses, and the understanding of future consequences. Is the excuse, "his prefrontal cortex hasn't fully developed because he's only seven years old-", an acceptable plea in the justice system?
As a seventeen year old, a teenager of course, I have never once thought about hurting someone, and let alone hurting someone far enough to death. I’ve never thought about committing any type of crime, whether it be severe or harmless. I was raised to respect others, to listen to everyone’s words, and to always show love even when there is hatred. Apart from being raised in this manner, I put myself to a higher standard that society will accept. The way I was raised was merely an outline for me to grow on - which I did, in my own way, with my own morals. For juveniles that beg that it was their upbringing that caused them to become who they are, I laugh at this cliche thrown out as bait to the jury and judge. Thousands of people decide to take their abusive childhood and transform it into something greater for themselves. The only thing that matters is how that person presents it to themselves, their society, and the world.
My father and his brother, Ramon, were abused for eighteen years of their lives by my grandfather - each accepting it differently. My uncle was a thief at twelve years old, an alcoholic by sixteen years old, an absent father at twenty-five, and blind by thirty-seven. My grandfather broke him and my uncle suffered the consequences. Although my uncle was a depressed and angry man, he never ventured into a life of crime. He stole twice: a loaf of bread from the grocery, and a pair of shoes from his next door neighbor.
My father turned his childhood into a reminder of who he never wanted to become. He doesn't drink and smoke, unlike my grandfather. He works so hard at the job he worked so hard for, unlike my grandfather. He communicates with us and understands our feelings, unlike my grandfather who thought that emotions were a curse. My father took his life and changed it for the better for himself, and his future family. They both had every opportunity to commit severe crimes, but neither did so - they knew it was wrong to do so.
Age should not contradict how a child, who committed a wrongful act knowingly, is prosecuted. Parents are here to raise our children of the next generation; they are supposed to teach them that there is positivity to the negativity. If there is an abusive relationship at home, then we as a society should intertwine a way to observe children -perhaps like an annual welfare check conducted by Social Services. It is a child's, or teenager's, responsibility to display and understand right versus wrong. All cases are sought through case-by-case, and that is how it should be for juvenile delinquents as well. Like always, the judge and jury should own the decision which is based on the relevant factors that are presented to the case at hand.
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