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Originally Posted by Mr Mephisto
So at what age should they be considered juvenile (or "children")?
15?
14?
13?
12?
Who decides?
You?
By definition, when there is a distinction between adult and child, there must be a cut-off point. Western legal doctrine has dictated, for well over a hundred years, that this is at 18 years.
Feel free to disagree, but your opinion is unlikely to overturn hundreds of years of legal, social and cultural precendence.
Mr Mephisto
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You're right it is unlikely to overtun years of legal social and cultural precedence but there are exceptions to every rule. In our system how many times is the question asked "will he be tried as an adult" how many times is that question asked without the public knowing about it? The majority of children begin learning right from wrong and consequences thereof from birth. And in my own *opinion* I believe that unless the person has a mental problem that it doesn't take 18 years for someone to understand what's right and what's wrong or that doing something violent to someone won't affect them in any way or that there's no consequences for their actions. (sorry about the run on sentence) Furthermore, I also believe that if you simply take a 16 or 17 year old and tell them "it's ok...just don't do it again" because they are a "child" in the eyes of law that you will continue to see an uprising of criminal behavior and violent acts. Seriously if someone knows they can do something and get away with it, what will stop them from doing it? It happens every day in society. I'm not saying that every person should be killed. I'm just saying that even if they are 16 or 17 that if that's the punishment that fits the crime.. then that is what needs to be done. I personally know a "kid" who is 17 years old. He was in a gang in Miami Florida. He shot and killed a kid point blank for no reason then shot 2 other kids who are now vegetables. I asked the guy why he did it when I went to visit him , he said he was angry and that the kids were talking shit about his gang. He was sorry about what happend but he was also very mature saying that he deserved to die because he took someone's life and it would only be fair. He is currently awaiting trial. It was sad to see..because yes he was young but the guy only knew violence his whole life. That is a different story though.