Teen charged as adult in Fla. school bus shooting
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The topic of children being tried as adults in violent crimes has been around for years in the U.S.. A fifteen year old from Florida, Jordyn Howe, is currently accused of fatally shooting a 13-year-old girl on a school bus while showing off his stepfather's gun. This past Wednesday he was faced in court with adult charges that include manslaughter. Along with manslaughter prosecutors decided to charge Howe with possession of a firearm by a minor and carrying a concealed weapon. This is when we ask ourselves, is their a psychological issues with this boy? Is this a reflection on his home life? Is it deemed acceptable to try him as an adult? This reminds me of the case of the King Brothers. A 12 year old and a 13 year old convicted as adults for violently murdering their father with a baseball bat. I feel the court has to rethink some of the decisions they make to try early teens as adults, at that stage in a persons life it's easy to not make moral judgments and realize consequences. I believe what young teen's committing violent crimes need is therapy and realization. I agree in the punishment sense of jail but not the extent and adult prison sense would hold. In today's world we see more and more violent crimes committed in teens. The 2003 Juvenile Violent Crime Census recorded 64,799 violent crimes where as in 2008 it rose to 73, 970 (http://www.statisticbrain.com/youth-violent-crime-statistics/). It's proof that through the years it has been gradually increasing and it still is, which leads me to believe that America must step back and ask why is this happening and why is it increasing? As many famous politicians have said "Children are our future", so instead of trying them as adults for violent crimes and calling it a day it is up to the adult justice system to change the path teens and children are going down in this country. We have to ask, is this children becoming a product of their society? Are outside influences causing these young children to commit such violent crimes?
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| Jordyn Howe (right) |
I would agree with you Lexi in the sense that rather than fully reprimand children by trying them as adults for their crimes, they should consider more gentle approaches like looking into the child's psychiatric state as well as what his or her's home life is like. Many children mimic actions of their parents or older siblings so perhaps there is a real serious problem that many are over looking such as violence or abuse at home.
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