We often talk about justice and even want just justice to be served at all times, but one of the questions that's quite difficult to respond to when we dwell on justice as a subject matter is what we should do or what should happen when a child commits a serious crime? Should they be made to face the full wrath of the law, or should they be handled with an oid glove with the hope of rehabilitating them? Knowing fully well that's a child is the one who commit such offence, would you find it okay to see a child face the severely purnishment that has been prescribed for such crimes same way an adults would have experienced, or we just consider their age , with the awareness that they're still every much young and their mind, understanding and sense of judgement is still in the phrase of development? Below I'll state my take on this and related issues.
This, I believe, is when juvenile justice comes in, but then even though it comes in, we can't help but recognise the fact that it acts like it becomes complicated, because the institution of juvenile justice was put in place as a correctional and rehabilitation system that's aimed at letting children be aware of their terrible acts, face some form of punishment and, most of all, be taught the correct way to live and become a responsible part of the society.
However, seeing how children have been involved in some serious crimes such as assault, rape, robbery, and even murder, what should be done in such a case, knowing fully well that their act has put the other person or their family in pain and suffering, I believe it'll be insensitive to just overlook justice because the perpetrator who committed the crime was young.
Just as adults, children should be made to take responsibility for their actions, and that's why such kids should be held accountable for their actions. However, when I said they should be held accountable for their crime, it didn't necessarily mean they should be made to face the same level of accountability as an adult would be made to face for the same offence.
While I don't think they should face the same punishment an adult would for the same offence, they should still face some punishment. Should such punishment be aimed at making them suffer for their crimes, or should we be trying to understand why they did what they did and if it's possible for them to be rehabilitated?
There are children who commit crimes, but it's because they don't know better, probably because of how they were raised or who raised them, maybe because of the society and how they see the same kind of actions every day, and now they think it's the way to go. Understanding all this will go a long way in helping such a child become a better person and a decent individual in the society after being rehabilitated. Like we all know, childhood is a phrase, and the type of phrase it is is what I like to call a developmental phrase, meaning they can still be mended and remodelled into a better version of themselves.
If we say children who commit serious crimes should be made to face the same punishment as adults, and we throw them into jail to satisfy our anger, what would happen after they've served their sentence? Will they come out as a better person, or would they come out more vile than they were before? I'll leave you to answer honestly from your heart.
As regards if we keep treating every case with kids' gloves, how would the society turn out? Well firstly I'll like to say that we can't treat every offence with the same actions or judgement, we must first explore the nature of the crime, how severe it's, understand the offender and see if they're can be rehabilitated, it doesn't mean they won't be held accountable, it just means they can't be made to face same purnishment as adults, children are not adults, but then shouldn't be completely free from responsibility, what we should do is find a way to strike a balance, by punishing wrongdoing, while still creating room for rehabilitation.
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