Should Teenagers Be Tried as Adults for Violent Crimes?

Every day in the United States violent crimes are committed by teenagers. These violent crimes include murder and rape. With many states passing laws requiring teenagers from the age of 14 to 17 to be tried as adults there has been a lot of controversy around the country. When these crimes have been committed the lives of the victims and their families they have hurt have been radically changed. Teenagers must be accountable for their actions especially when they have committed a violent crime such a murder or rape and should be tried as adults under the age of 18 for these violent crimes. The crimes today are more violent than in the past and the juvenile justice system is not able to handle teen criminals of today. Ultimately, teenagers should stand trial as adults for their violent crimes.

The first reason teenagers should be tried as an adult is because the violent teenage crimes are rising in alarming rates in America. Chicago police Commander Donald Hilbring states, "Gangs are everywhere. All throughout the city of Chicago, the suburbs, throughout the state, throughout the nation." Chicago police state that so far this year, more than 100 gang-related murders have occurred. Not only are gang murders rising but also non-gang murders are rising. Robert Acuna, who was a seventeen Texas high school student was caught and sentenced for murdering and killing execution style both his neighbors, James and Joyce Caroll. Acuna asked why he had killed his neighbors in such a brutal way he said he did not know why. According to Richard Armen's article titled "Teen Crime Statistics.", Armen states "Almost half of all violent crimes committed are by perpetrators between the ages of 12 and 19. In 2006, 15% of all arrests were made on people under the age of 18." With the rising rate of violent teenage crimes the juvenile justice system is not designed to handle today's violent youth crimes. Clearly, the teenage crime rate is out of control and harsher penalties need to be enforced on these teenagers who commit these horrible crimes. Therefore, teens should be tried as adults.

The second reason teenagers should be tried as adults is teenagers do have the ability to reason and have the ability to understand. In an article written by Greg Krikorian titled " Many Kids Called Unfit for Adult Trail", writes researchers tested 11 to 24 year olds and the research showed that the performance in reasoning and understanding for youth ages 16 and 17 did not differ from those at least 18 years of age." According to the Justice Department's statistics, the juvenile arrest rate for violent crime overall fell 36 percent from 1994 to 1999. With the states around the country passing laws requiring teens to be tried as adults the violent crime rate has dropped. The research in Krikorian's article and the Justice Department's statistic clearly shows and proves