Young people committing crimes should be treated the same as adults by the authorities. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
Nowadays, unlawful acts involving juveniles are witnessing a spike; however, these perpetrators walk scott free unlike the grown up. This has persuaded a proposal that they should be awarded similar penalties like their older counterparts, whereas many dissent. I shall critically scrutinise this matter, and draw a plausible conclusion.
A school of thought professes that an infringement should be penalized uniformly, regardless of the age, for this can send a clear message to all the youngsters, preventing them potentially from engaging in criminal/antisocial activities. Similarly, in cases of violent illegal acts, such as murder, or assault, the severity should be the primary criteria and not the age of the offender. To corroborate, a study by the University College of Dublin, revealed that felonies undertaken by those under eighteen have surged due to lack of sufficient law, so a universal system of punishments has been proposed in Ireland to help quell such incidents. Moreover, holding them accountable will promote fairness, and also prevent youngsters from being used as a tool to commit unlawful acts.
Nevertheless, the critics throw up their arms in horror, and suggest that youngsters should not be subjected to such punitive measures. Their brains are still developing, limiting their ability to make correct decisions. Since they lack maturity, they might be unable to handle the trauma, eventually affecting their mental health drastically, exposing them to issues like depression and anxiety, and instead encouraging them to indulge in dangerous unlawful endeavors.
To conclude, disputes aside, I think that instances of law breaking should be meted out similar treatment to all antisocial elements, regardless of their age; youngsters partaking in offences should not be spared. It might sound cruel, but mitigating incidence of law breaking by minors is only possible with such severe steps.
