I believe that there are indeed limitations set upon teens because of their minds not being fully developed. And this developing mind plays an important role in the choices or actions an individual partakes in.
I believe that during the administering of charges in regard to their crimes, the fact that their minds are not fully formed should be taken into consideration along with the severity of their crime.
I believe that in most cases, a child should be held to a lesser standard than the adult that committed a similar act, and that in most cases a child should not have to endure life in prison due to their actions.
I believe more important than punishment at this stage in their life is getting them the help they need. They are still early on enough in their development to be influenced by their teachings.
In some cases where adolescents commit a criminal offense, they are only exhibiting the first step of a mental illness. This is why it is important to help them so that this inherent flaw is cut from their system before it is allowed to grow.
Of course, I have read some truly horrific actions by teens that of course bring my whole argument into question, because yes, I do believe there are exceptions to my standpoint.
There are some truly evil acts that are nearly impossible to come back from in life. Hopefully, my standpoint is not too controversial, I would like to hear what you all feel differently about.
Going off of what I said in my previous paragraph, I do believe the court system should treat adolescents differently than adults. There must still be repercussions and action taken against crime, but their state of mind should be taken into consideration.
Adolescents are often far more influenced by their environment than adults, and feel are far greater need to “fit in” due to social peer pressure when keeping the wrong company.
In many cases, individuals care more about looking cool in front of their peers than creating moral justification for their actions, or perhaps even morally justify their actions by saying what they’re doing isn’t too bad because “other people are doing it”.
It’s a comical justification, but it’s all too common in the youth of America. And it helps to shed more light on the state of mind these adolescents possess; very rarely do they think of the bigger picture.
The adolescent mind is inherently selfish and generally is defined by a “live in the moment” mentality. The point I am trying to make is that I fully believe adolescents should be held to a lesser standard because unlike their adult contemporaries, they have more capacity for change and growth.
