Inspired by the thread by the fourteen year old killing her infant.

Many people stated she should be tried as an adult. Some even stated that she should be executed.

But the fact is, she is NOT considered an adult, so why should anyone be tried as something they are not?

So, that being said, should we lower the age of adulthood to, say.. eleven, since that is the youngest age a person was charged as an adult and give eleven year olds the privileges that come with being an adult? That way, we can try them as adults because they would be *gasped* considered adults?

And before you say, "they are too young to have all the privileges of the adult" ask yourself, how on earth does it make sense to punish them like they are adults?

D/D

Good question, how low would we lower it?

some of these ladies are completely ignorant.
a child is considered a child until 18 for a reason.

this 14yr old CHILD is not an adult.
but if she does get tried as an adult, lets all go and get a petition signed to have it lowered to at least 14. so then they can all go out and vote, buy smokes, etc.

I already tried this D&D.... you worded it better than I did, though!  

No, it should not be lowered. A 14 year old is not mentally an adult, changing the law would not change a 14 year old's mental capability.

11 is pretty young, I don't know though- as for the 14 year old, so so sad  

Quoting ashleeoh:" No, it should not be lowered. A 14 year old is not mentally an adult, changing the law would not change a 14 year old's mental capability."

Do you think a child should be tried as an adult?

No.
I don't think the girl in this case should be tried as an adult either. She may be aware that what she did was wrong, but I don't think she is capable of completely understanding the consequences of her actions.

Hell no. Simple as that. I wouldn't want my 14 year old to have "adult rights".

No. Absolutely not.

And I believe that people who willfully and knowingly take the life of another person are acting as an adult at the time of the commission of the crime, so they should be tried as an adult for t hose actions.

However, a 14 year old is not capable of acting as an adult 24/7 (hell, most 18 year olds aren't either), so they should not be responsible for their own care and maintenance (including parents not having to care for them) and making their own decisions about medical care, schooling, major life decisions.

In this particular case, I don't believe she should be tried as an adult (she acted as a child---hiding the pregnancy, hiding the birth, getting rid of the evidence by killing the baby, then hiding the body).

The girl needs education and support---but I definitely think she should be held accountable for her actions and NOT have the juvenile record expunged as an adult.

Quoting Back to Noob Status:" Do you think a child should be tried as an adult?"

IDK, honestly. I mean sometimes I think the punishment they give say a 16 year old they are trying as a minor is not enough. Maybe they could relook at the punishments they give to minors tried as minors. I do not think it is something that is black and white.

I don't think that it should be lowered. I think as a general rule, kids are kids and adults are adults. However, I also think that it should be taken on a case by case basis.

This IS murder, that we are talking about here.

The reason that teenagers are tried as adults for murder is because common sense tells you that if you kill someone, you go to jail or get the death penalty. You know what the consequences of your actions are. And if there is a doubt that a particular teenager does NOT know the results of said actions, that's when you bring in a psychologist to interview them and see where their mental capacity is and why they would not automatically know that.

This doesn't mean that an 11 year old, 14 year old, or 16 year old should have the ability to make adult decisions. Their brains are not fully developed and they have not been taught how to handle adult situations. They should not be legally allowed to purchase alcohol or cigarettes or condoms or anything else of that nature. They have not had time to grow up and learn how to handle those situations appropriately.

But EVERYONE knows the consequences of killing another human being. You can ask my 6 year old and he can tell you. Trying a teenager as an adult for murder and giving them free reign of adult privileges are two totally different things.

Quoting Blair Waldorf (SuperKink):" The reason that teenagers are tried as adults for murder is because common sense tells you that if you ... [snip!] ... you. Trying a teenager as an adult for murder and giving them free reign of adult privileges are two totally different things."

You've contradicted yourself.

Quoting Blair Waldorf (SuperKink):" The reason that teenagers are tried as adults for murder is because common sense tells you that if you ... [snip!] ... you. Trying a teenager as an adult for murder and giving them free reign of adult privileges are two totally different things."

Novali knows that people die, the concept that she has difficulty with is that it's forever.

I think, I know it wouldn't and probably couldn't happen, but I think there should be an "in-between" stage legally. I don't know what that would be called or how it would work but I don't think a 6 year old and a 12 year old, or an 8 year old and a 16 year old, or a 14 year old and a 24 year old deserve the same punishments...