The Kid Behind Bars

The Kid Behind Bars When does one actually become an adult? When is one old enough to be tried and sentenced as an adult for crimes committed? These are questions which have been debated by law enforcement officials more often in the past decade than in the past 30-40 years. Children, usually defined as anyone under 16-18 years of age, who commit adult crimes, should be tried and sentenced as adults rather than having a …

…the law does not apply to them. “They think of the system as a game they can win. “They can’t do nothing to me, I ain’t sixteen yet” is a repeated refrain to a system that breeds contempt for the law and for the other institutions of society” (Kramer 406). In conclusion, until the system is radically restructured, juvenile crime will only increase, and the future fabric of American society will be severely torn.