When adults do what they know how to do best, believe me that children are always there to build what's more stronger than the adult but with the basics from adult's doings either positive or negative.
So that is the reason why we have to be mindful of the society we build right from the family we build which serves as grassroot. Imagine a child growing up to know or see that his or her uses a gun for illegal jobs and brings home things that are always from one bag, no matter how naive they may be, they will get exposed to that lifestyle later or sooner. Compared to what they even learn from what they see, the gene they inherit is filled with part of their parent's acts as well.
All I'm saying in essence is that, thinking we have to handle criminal cases done by children with levity hands does not mean we are trying to save the world and not taking them for trials until they are adult does not mean we are not destroying their lives as well. So how do we make the balance?
A part from the scripture says, teach your child in the way of the Lord and when he grow, he will not depart from it. There is always a big reason behind that.
While growing up, when we have teenagers around us and we were still adolescents, there is always a size of everyone's punishment whenever you offend. If it's not to be flogged as a little child, you have the punishment that makes you determine never to commit that offense that got you into the punishment ever again and same as the teenager. Everything is not about flogging with cane. I still remember frog jump, stool down etc.
Which simply means that, when there's a juvenile criminal attempt, let them be tried and given punishment according to the crime they commit. Let them see the consequences of their actions right from that stage they had committed the crime so that their decisions can forever be strong against crime for their future. So that their future doesn't get flopped with what they had done as a child. The memories and lessons should build them.
Saying a child should be remanded till he or she clocks 18 because that's the regulated age as an adult to be tried under the law or something, do we think about the years of their lives that will eventually be wasted away in that process? What if he is 12, what if he's even 14, 15 or 17? A few months is enough to build more on your criminal activities if you're not cautioned with what comes after your actions.
Just like the name it has recently been changed to in my country, as a correctional center, it should be a place to correct their mistakes and not a means of wasting them because they fell into the wrong environment or family which build them into crimes.
In summary, there are always levels of punishment for crimes done either by an adult or juvenile. We have to catch them young, rebuild and rebrand them from whatever society has built them to be and making them useful in building a healthy society in return and not waiting till they become adult while wasting away their teenage years in waiting room of judgement.
I'll be dropping my 🖊️ here on the Hive Learners community prompt
Thanks for reading through 🤗
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