Death Penalty for Juveniles: Should Juvenile Murderers Be Sentenced to Death

How many times have you been somewhere and heard a teen arguing with their parent saying, “Why are you treating me like such a kid?” We all know teens want to be treated like adults when it comes to responsibilities and freedoms, but when it comes to facing the consequences of their actions when they do something bad, including murder, they do not want to take them. Teens want to be treated like adults. When a kid is able to take out a gun, point it at someone, and pull the trigger, they should be able to suffer the same consequences. Teens need to be held accountable for what they are doing; they know they can get a free ride until they turn 18 with only a little bit of community service. Teens over the age of 14 should be held accountable for their actions with the death penalty.

In 2007 juvenile courts all over the country handled 4,500 criminal homicides. We are told that kids murder because they grew up in poverty; however, poverty doesn’t cause crime, crime causes poverty. Juveniles, commit crimes because they choose to do so. They must be held accountable for their actions. If a teen is capable of pulling a gun on someone and know what they are doing, they should be able to endure the consequences. Some people think the death penalty for teens is wrong and they should get a second chance, but why give teens another shot that are committing the same crimes as other people older that them? Some people say “I don’t think kids should be executed because the are molded by the environment they grew up in. If they grew up in an environment where all they saw was the dad beating their mom, they will most likely grow up thinking that violence is a way of showing love. I’m not saying they shouldn’t be punished, they should, but I think the death penalty is too harsh. As a matter of fact, I think the death penalty isn’t punishment at all, just an easy way out”.

Teens should have to sit in jail and think about what they did. The death penalty is just a way to not have to think about what happened. In this economy, we cannot afford to put our tax dollars towards killing people when we could pay much less and just let them sit in jail and think about what they did.

Once a teen kills someone with little or no punishment at all, they won’t be afraid to do it again. A teen is only fully physiologically developed when he or she is over the age of 10. Even after a child turns 10, they still aren’t mature enough to take responsibility for what they did until the age of 13 or 14. Teens over the age of 14 need to be punished for what they did. It is not fair that adults pay the price, but teens do not for committing the exact same crimes. I agree that the death penalty is very harsh, but at the same time, when someone’s life is taken away in a split second, it is very hard for that person’s family. Most of the time the killer doesn’t have any sympathy, and all they are thinking about is how to not get caught in the act they just preformed. Murder is not something kids should think is cool, but sometimes things get repeated because teens are in need of attention. Can you recall the day of the Columbine shooting? It was a hasty murder put on by two teen boys. Many students and teachers were killed that day, but this murder ended differently. The boys chose to end their lives instead of facing their consequences. Many other murders have happened since then. 

Over the age of 14, teens should punished for the vicious crimes they commit. I’m not saying that every little thing a teen does should result in jail time, that’s too harsh, but when they are trying to be mature by doing such horrible things, they should be punished just the same as an adult who did the same exact thing. 

Works Cited

1. American Psychological Association. (n.d.). Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2018 National Report.
2. Casey, E. (2016). Juvenile Justice: A Social, Historical, and Legal Perspective. Oxford University Press.
3. Feld, B. C. (2018). The Oxford Handbook of Juvenile Crime and Juvenile Justice. Oxford University Press.
4. Fritsch, E. J., & Hemmens, C. (2018). Juvenile Justice: The Essentials. SAGE Publications.
5. Grisso, T. (2016). Adolescent Criminal Responsibility and Legal Culpability. Oxford University Press.
6. Heilbrun, K., & DeMatteo, D. (Eds.). (2019). Adolescent Forensic Mental Health. Oxford University Press.
7. Johnson, L., & Scott, L. A. (2019). The Palgrave Handbook of Criminology and the Global South. Palgrave Macmillan.
8. Siegel, L. J., Welsh, B. C., & Senna, J. J. (2020). Juvenile Delinquency: Theory, Practice, and Law. Cengage Learning.
9. Snyder, H. N., & Sickmund, M. (2006). Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
10. Steinberg, L., & Cauffman, E. (2016). Adolescence. McGraw-Hill Education.