Charging Children for Adult Crimes: Shaun Hautly

Some fifteen year old kids set fire to a classmate who didn't pay for a video game he agreed to buy from another student. Allegedly. They are being charged as adults. Some people find this to be wrong for a number of reasons: Jail time could potentially make them more violent, their young mind couldn't really be capable of such a diabolical scheme, etc. Upon reading some articles arguing against children being tried as adults, I've come to some conclusions for you:

Simple rule: If it's murder, it's an adult crime. People say that research shows that a fifteen year old cannot understand things like murder, and therefor anyone under sixteen shouldn't be eligible for an adult trial. However, fifteen year olds know death and murder. Everyone does. Everyone has the instinct to stay alive, therefor they understand that making someone else die is wrong. If they DON'T understand that, then they have bigger problems and will likely be just as demented as adults.

fifteen year olds have accomplished the following: Some have had sex and children, some have dropped out of school, some have begun working full-time, some have done drugs, some have stolen things, some have even become doctors. In the "olden days" fifteen year olds would marry and begin to work and have a family. In 3 years, we're going to train some of them to be soldiers and travel the world, killing people and fighting with guns. Murder is not a hard concept to understand. No matter how old you are. If you murder-- or even attempt to murder someone-- you have problems. The same problems that grown-up murderers have. It just so happens that the solutions are the same too. Call it a Rite of Passage, but when you murder someone, you become a man. 

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