Juvenile Life Sentences

Our society has fallen under a belief in which juveniles and adults must be punished for the crimes they committed. Anyone who commits a crime must be held accountable and must take responsibility for their actions, but when it comes to determining their sentence, many individuals have different opinions.

In the article, "Juveniles Don't Deserve Life Sentences" by Gail Garinger, she explains how politicians are afraid of releasing "superpredators" at the age of 18 or 21. Garinger believes juveniles should not be sentenced to life in prison without parole. I agree with her argument because adolescents aren't in the right state of mind during their teen years. There are a numerous amount of factors that influence their decision making process, such as their peers and environment. During their young years, many of them are "susceptible to peer pressure, they are less mature, cannot escape from dangerous environments, and their characters are still in formation." How can we sentence young adults who are 13 or 14 years old to life without parole when their brains aren't fully developed? The teenage brain has several regions that are underdeveloped which are responsible for controlling thoughts, actions, and emotions. Should we still consider them as violent juvenile criminals under these circumstances?

These adolescents should be given a second chance to redeem themselves. They need all the help they can get, education and rehabilitation programs to improve themselves. Deciding the sentence of a juvenile should be determined when they are an adult, not a child.

In the article "Why Teens Are Impulsive Addiction-Prone And Should Protect Their Brains", interviewed a Harvard professor and the author of "The Teenage Brain" on Fresh Air. Dr. Jensen stated how the main decision making part of our brain, which is the prefrontal lobe of the brain, is the last part to fully develop. Throughout the whole interview, Dr. Jensen only stated how teenagers are more susceptible to addiction to drugs and alcohol, and how this will effect their brain permanently. For me, Dr. Jensen was completely bias in this interview; she only represented one side when there are multiple outlooks of it. Since the adolescent brain is impressionable, is it the undeveloped brain that causes them to overreact in certain situations, or is it the way the parents of the child chose to raise him or her? Although addiction is a form of learning, Jensen states that addiction comes from the "reward seeking side of the brain". In their environment, children can also see their parents struggle with their addictions, and they may fall into the same addiction because in their childhood, that behavior was normal.
Even though the decision making of the brain is not fully developed, the parent is still there to guide them and teach them right from wrong. Parents will have a major effect on the teen's brain.

Unique Teens

            The article "Why Teens Are Impulsive, Addiction-Prone And Should Protect Their Brains (2015), possesses authentic research and facts. In addition, it all makes sense as to what teenagers' brains are described on another article "Startling Finds on Teenage Brain" by Paul Thompson. Furthermore, both articles highlights the teenage brains as complicated before adulthood. Although the article sounds pretty convincing, it can also have its very own loop hole. For instance, let us say that the article is a very reliable source, but how can the article explain to the readers that there are some teenagers who are not actually impulsive as it say they would?

           

            The article specifically said that "all teens can't control impulses and make rapid, smart decisions like an adult." Do you believe that? Have you done a crime? Furthermore, I fear that teens such as I can go to prison anytime for something what we did that is regretful. We are humans and we all make mistakes. We are not perfect and the article explains that. But it is very intriguing that there are some teens who are really mature in an early age. I am starting to question why there are cases like that.

           

            Did they experienced something related to adults? Did an experience triggered something in their brain? Do they have a firm goal on their minds that made them mature? What causes these if it is proven already that all teens are very impulsive? These are the questions that came to my mind and needed some clarifications.

Concerning the Development of an Adolescent

Regarding the first portion of the article- I believe that although it provides scientific evidence, it does not fulfill an argument that may be extracted from it. The author states that this explains "why teenagers can be especially impulsive, moody and not very good at responsible decision-making". However, I have one mere question. Why is it that not every child is impulsive or horrible at decision-making? I feel as though there should be more to this article, stating that not every child develops the same or at the same rate and the reasoning behind it- whether it is genetic or coming from their environment, such as parents or siblings.

As like Jennifer Jenkins who wrote "On Punishment and Teen Killers", I also question why, for example, crime rates committed by juveniles are not equal around the world. She states "If brain development were the reason, then teens would kill at roughly the same rate all over the world. They do not". I believe that this article should address this issue as to why it is disparate all over the world.

Moreover, one could also argue that a child's parent or parents have an enormous influence on the child that would affect their development. I believe that parenting is vital and plays a key role in the development of children. For an example- if a child's parent makes rash decisions, such as drinking alcohol or doing drugs, the child presumably has a higher risk of doing these things as well, seeing as though they saw it throughout their childhood and they were not aware of the consequences at hand. That is not to say that peers also have an influence as well.

My question in regards to this article is why do children develop differently and/or at different rates? Why are some children extremely mature at a young age, and why are others still immature at the same age? What causes this? In addition to that, I am curious if anybody else thought of this question while reading or listening to the article, as it is what I immediately first thought of.

Startling Finds on Teenage Brains

   The teenage brain begins to develop at the phase of puberty. It initiates the process of chemical developing of the brain causing adolescents to have a high memory retention and learning rate. The brain processes information and memories at a much faster rate than adults but it has a massive amount of brain tissue loss. From "Startling Finds on Teenage Brains" by Paul Thompson it begins with a factual beginning stating information from other articles. Then he begins to state his own research but does not state how exactly he concluded to the point of his information, just giving a brief summary of his work. The brain has a massive amount of brain tissue loss through the teenage years in the pre-frontal cortex and frontal cortex which controls actions, impulses, and decision making. Teenager's because of a lack of the frontal cortex have almost no control of their actions, having them act upon impulse. Thompson does not explain how the brain works exactly through there teenage years and in the seventh paragraph stating that "brain researchers supports all our thinking and emotions, is purged at a rate of 1 to 2 percent a year during this period". Where does he get the information about this text? 
   Thompson did not state the environmental factors that affect teen's making decision's. From the point the child was conceived it has gone through numerous changes. The child has seen the decisions of others, watched as the generation has changed, and how the media has affected the way child is. It is not just the medical point of view in the process. The environment in which it  was raised in determines some of its actions and decisions. Frances Jenson explained about the environmental factors of a child affecting its actions. A child who was raised in a harsh environment may not be as social as another who has had a easy life communicating with others. This is the same with the brain. The brain is affected by the environment it is exposed to and other countless factors. What other factors are considered in trials for juveniles?

"Why Teens are Impulsive, Addiction-Prone And Should Protect Their Brains

I believe this article is completely bias. It has only one side in the argument when there are multiple sides. The author forgot to mention of parenting or ethics. Even though putting scientific research in your argument may "proof" your point that the teenage brain is not suited for life changing events, ethics and parenting are still a major factor of what a child may do.

Parenting

• A parent is a major factor on decision due to how the child is raised with what habits are formed
• A child gains lots of knowledge from their parent(s) since birth
• A parent will tell from what's good or bad, directly or indirectly
• A parent can dictate on what emotions may feel upon their actions to the child 

Ethics

• A child's ethics could be different from the parents but usually different thus can lead to a more peaceful child
• Based on the child's memories, for say accidentally hurting a loved one, can dictate the child's actions
• Religion may take a factor due to how much faith the child has in it

I believe that the article is biased strafing to the idea that children are not equal to adults when committing a crime, but is still true. A child will still have a harder time having decisions skills as an adult but can still make the correct decisions with parenting or/and ethics. I believe children are able to make the correct decisions, but these are my thoughts and ideas based on true events that happened to me, and maybe even you.What do you believe?

"Kids are kids-Until they commit crimes"


This particular piece stuck out to me because of the repetitive appeals to emotion, use of short sentences, and rhetorical language. Marjie quotes Ron Wilson, Democratic State Rep.,"You want to throw the adult book at kids? Fine, lower the voting age to fourteen". The idea of this was hysterical and completely fictitious but the more and more I thought about it the statement appeared as fair. Of course our society has never been completely fair and I'm not saying lowering the voting age would be a good idea but it would definitely even out the odds. Short sentences such as line 4,9,15, and 23 seem pretty bold to include in a article for the Sacramento Bee. "Hey, they're only kids" and "More lives, lost." and short but effective when appealing to emotion because it establishes a firm position and sends a statement. A statement that says there is no wiggle room and what I am saying is as simple as the words that are being used.

One idea stood out in most of these articles that always urged me to ask the same question and it comes up when authors talk about the tough on crime epidemic. They ask why there is still need for it when teenage crime has declined since 1966. But doesn't that mean that it has worked? True every once in a while a child will be sentenced to prison for an absurd amount of time but the justice system does this to make an example of the child and to send a message to every other child. Now this reasoning is harsh and some would say cruel but is that why it works or have kids not been acting out as much in the recent years?

Hello class. This is what we did in class.

Welcome to BHS ERWC Blogosphere.

Hello my young scholars:
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