Running head: ASSIGNMENT 4: PERSUASIVE PAPER PART 2: SOLUTIONS AND ADVANTAGES1 ASSIGNMENT 4: PERSUASIVE PAPER PART 2: SOLUTIONS AND ADVANTAGES5 Assignment 4: Persuasive Paper Part 2: Solution s and Advantages Title Chosen “Adult Crime, Adult Time” Children are taught right from wrong from the time they are born. Adolescences have a strong grasp on the value of human life. To take someone else’s life on purpose is not something that can be treated lightly. People like to blame the violent movies they watch, or the games they play. They say that the violence has desensitized them, making it so they no longer understand right from wrong. That simply isn’t true. It is said that juveniles lack the maturity to understand the wrongfulness of their actions; I however disagree in the case of violent crimes. As children we are educated in the case of right and wrong. Hence when it comes to something that is extremely wrong such as violent crimes, it is a clear cut case, and juveniles should be tried as adults. Minors, who commit violent crimes, such as murder, first degree murder, second degree murder, homicides, and voluntary manslaughter should be tried as adults. Minors who commit violent crimes know exactly what they are doing and they also had the intent to kill. Families want to blame it on violent movies or violent TV shows, but violent acts are all around us, and we are taught right from wrong a young age. Perhaps if we start trying juveniles as adults, minors would then think twice about committing crimes in the first place. Even though there are many states that allow juveniles to be tried as adults, other states still have restrictions against it. Juveniles that commit heinous and malicious crimes should be tried as adults, as long as they have the understanding of what is right and wrong (Juvenile Justice 2008). If a juvenile wants to commit an adult crime they should have to pay adult time. Many minor feel that they can commit these adult crimes, because they feel that they will only be charged with a juvenile offense. Whether minors who commit violent crimes should be tried as an adult has been a hot button topic from some time now. People have very strong opinions on this matter, because no likes to see kids serving hard time. There are many questions that people have about this topic, and there are many questions that would need to be answered in order to satisfy peoples opinions on this controversial topic. Though the questions that will be answered throughout this paper are as follows; what would qualify as a violent crime? Would it make a difference in the crime rate? And if tried as an adult, would they be sent to an adult facility? Criminals must be held accountable no matter if they are minors or not. Juveniles that commit these heinous crimes, such as murder, need to think about the families of the victim. If the juveniles are just tried in juvenile courts they usually will be sentenced with a less harsh sentence. These fami ...

1. Running head: ASSIGNMENT 4: PERSUASIVE PAPER PART
2: SOLUTIONS AND ADVANTAGES1
ASSIGNMENT 4: PERSUASIVE PAPER PART 2: SOLUTIONS
AND ADVANTAGES5
Assignment 4: Persuasive Paper Part 2:
Solution
s and Advantages
Title Chosen “Adult Crime, Adult Time”
Children are taught right from wrong from the time they are
born. Adolescences have a strong grasp on the value of human
life. To take someone else’s life on purpose is not something
that can be treated lightly. People like to blame the violent
movies they watch, or the games they play. They say that the
violence has desensitized them, making it so they no longer
understand right from wrong. That simply isn’t true. It is said
that juveniles lack the maturity to understand the wrongfulness
of their actions; I however disagree in the case of violent
crimes. As children we are educated in the case of right and
wrong. Hence when it comes to something that is extremely
wrong such as violent crimes, it is a clear cut case, and
juveniles should be tried as adults.
Minors, who commit violent crimes, such as murder, first

2. degree murder, second degree murder, homicides, and voluntary
manslaughter should be tried as adults. Minors who commit
violent crimes know exactly what they are doing and they also
had the intent to kill. Families want to blame it on violent
movies or violent TV shows, but violent acts are all around us,
and we are taught right from wrong a young age. Perhaps if we
start trying juveniles as adults, minors would then think twice
about committing crimes in the first place. Even though there
are many states that allow juveniles to be tried as adults, other
states still have restrictions against it. Juveniles that commit
heinous and malicious crimes should be tried as adults, as long
as they have the understanding of what is right and wrong
(Juvenile Justice 2008). If a juvenile wants to commit an adult
crime they should have to pay adult time. Many minor feel that
they can commit these adult crimes, because they feel that they
will only be charged with a juvenile offense.
Whether minors who commit violent crimes should be tried as
an adult has been a hot button topic from some time now.
People have very strong opinions on this matter, because no
likes to see kids serving hard time. There are many questions
that people have about this topic, and there are many questions
that would need to be answered in order to satisfy peoples
opinions on this controversial topic. Though the questions that
will be answered throughout this paper are as follows; what
would qualify as a violent crime? Would it make a difference in

3. the crime rate? And if tried as an adult, would they be sent to an
adult facility?
Criminals must be held accountable no matter if they are minors
or not. Juveniles that commit these heinous crimes, such as
murder, need to think about the families of the victim. If the
juveniles are just tried in juvenile courts they usually will be
sentenced with a less harsh sentence. These families of the
victims feel that they are abandoned and feel less secure that the
criminal can go out and victimize someone else. They
sometimes feel as though “their loss was left unacknowledged”
(Estudillo, 2001). The only way to solve this is to try the minor
as an adult. The minors must take full responsibility for their
actions, to act as a deterrent for other delinquent minors.
According to the “FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR)
Program, violent crime is composed of four offenses: murder
and nonnegligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and
aggravated assault. Violent crimes are defined in the UCR
Program as those offenses which involve force or threat of
force” ("Violent crime," 2011). Violent crimes are worst crimes
that one can commit, and seeing as we are tough from birth
what is right and what is wrong, it seems very clear that violent
crimes are ones that need to be punished at the highest level of
the law no matter the age of the person committing the crime.
Though many people would not want to hear it, it has already
been proven back in the 1990s that a stricter punishment for

4. teens decreases the crime rate. Transfer laws in 1992 utilize
several mechanisms, including allowing prosecutorial
discretion, lowering the age at which an adolescent is
considered an adult from 18 to 17 or 16. Adolescent crimes then
decreased by 50 percent (Ash, 2006). Having the time fit the
crime seems to be a perfect way to deter people from
committing said crime in the first place. The previous juvenile
justice system could not keep up with the overwhelming amount
of violent juvenile offenders. The juvenile justice system was
just reprimanding minors not very seriously. The system needs
to give violent offenders individualized attention. They need to
help offenders who are threats to society even after being
sentenced in the system. The first laws were not designated to
deal with extremely violent cases; they were mostly created for
minor crimes. The focus was also on rehabilitation, and trying
to fix problems. It is proven that “rehab centers have had little
influence on youths” (Estudillo, 2001). Many juvenile offenders
go through the system and just take rehabilitation as an “easy
way out”, many offenders go through the rehabilitation program
numerous times before something can be done to actually
reprimand them.
Across the United States, thousands of children have been
sentenced as adults and sent to adult prisons. “Nearly 3000
nationwide have been sentenced to life imprisonment without
the possibility of parole. Children as young as 13 years old have

5. been tried as adults and sentenced to die in prison, typically
without any consideration of their age or circumstances of the
offense.” ("Children in adult," 2012) Many young children in
America are imperiled by abuse, neglect, domestic and
community violence, and poverty. Without effective
intervention and help, these children suffer and struggle their
whole lives. Its not be said that those who are commit violent
crimes are correct in their action, because they truly are not.
Though it is also imperative that we step up and help these
children out of these patterns; with that being said, I do not
believe that adolescents that are tried and convicted as adults
should be sent to adult prisons. They will get lost in the shuffle.
Instead why not create facility’s that will, and can rehabilitate
these children, and when they have done their time send them in
the world as functioning members of society.
There are many reasons people don’t agree with sending
adolescents to adult court. Though there are also many reasons
why they should; adult crime should equal adult time. We can’t
keep allowing this pattern to continue. Our legal system needs
to step up and put a stop to babying those who don’t deserve it.
Those who commit violent crimes no matter what the age, do
not deserve special treatment.

6. References
Ash, P. (2006, June). Adolescents in adult court: Does the
punishment fit the criminal?. Retrieved from
http://www.jaapl.org/content/34/2/145.full
Children in adult prison. (2012). Retrieved from
http://www.eji.org/childrenprison
Violent crime. (2011). Retrieved from
http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-
u.s/2011/crime-in-the-u.s.-2011/violent-crime/violent-crime