Back in the time, I used to hear a news often, which was about teenagers doing some sort of serious crimes. These type of news used to make me feel really sad because I couldn't understand why they had done those crimes. So, I wondered, "A child who commits a serious crime should they be punished like an adult?" Like when an adult commits a crime we take it seriously and try to get them punished severely, so should we do the same thing for a child?
People want strong punishment for everyone equally and it's understandable. Because when a young person kills someone, the victims family they still suffer the most and to them, they don't care about the age they would only want justice for their loved ones. I personally, believe that their family deserves justice. Because if there's no justice then these crimes could increase and our society wouldn't be a safe place anymore. Like there will be more crimes and the one attempting them will be children's. So, we can't just ignore a dangerous person because they are young.
From a third perspective, I feel we should ask why did the child behave in a certain way? Shouldn't that be a part of the concern? I knew a boy at my school, he used to get scolded by the teachers all of the time, because he used to create troubles. There was a rumor about him that he was cruel to animals and last time he had beaten up a cat on the street and his classmates saw it. Basically, he had a bad reputation at our school and everyone used to call him a “bad kid.” Well, I don't know how much of it, was true and I had noticed that people never really tried to understand him.
I never got the courage to approach him, whenever I tried to talk to him someone would take me away. So, one day I saw him sitting alone and I was waiting for my mom then I noticed he looked angry but he also sad. I don't like to judge people without knowing them, so I really had no idea what he was thinking or going through but that moment made me think about him more and I was feeling empathy.
I used to research a lot online about things I was curious about. On the internet I got to know about Conduct Disorder (CD). It's a disorder which is seen mostly in children from a young age. Who have this disorder they may show serious behavior problems, they could be willing to hurt anyone or breaking important rules again and again. I wouldn't say if someone is behaving the same way it means they have this disorder, Of course not, I don't think every violent child has CD. Also, I don't think normal people like us could verify the behavior. For this, people need to get proper mental-health professionals help, to evaluate the child.
I also, think that violent children's should not be called a “psychopath.” Because it's not a formal diagnosis for children. Bad behaviour could be for many reasons and it will be different for different person. Like it varies from person to person. First of all, I am not taking a criminals side that children who commits crimes should not be punished or anything. I'm just trying to figure out the causes. I feel everything has a reason and we should try to acknowledge it. If someone is young and they commits a crime then their age can't be an excuse for hurting people. If a child threatens to hurt someone or comes up with a plan to murder someone because their thought process did not match then it must be taken very seriously.
I believe juvenile justice should have the both punishment and help. I feel a dangerous child should be punished and face the consequences. On the other hand, I also believe they should get proper mental-health care and rehabilitation when it's necessary. Justice is about protecting people and that should be the first priority. The goal should be to punish a dangerous child and prevent them from becoming a dangerous adult.
The picture is created with chatgpt.
