Different Standards for Minors

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by DewDropInn

Believe it or not in 1965, before we got all touchy-feely and worried about being a "tad harsh", that's the way the world ran.

Court dockets were lighter and juvy wasn't as crowded.

I love frontier justice!

[aidxen]

Firstly I do not think that we should devalue the crime because it was perpertrated by a child. Some kids can be viscous and nasty. For the victim, the crime happened. The age of the perpitrator is probably irrelevant.

To me the problem we have is this idea that we should just put them in jail. Get rid of the problem by hiding it away. We put them in jail for years and years and years. Is that humane? We would not do that to an animal yet for some reason it is OK to do it to people.

To me we should punish - yes but then focus on rehab. That is 100 times harder but I believe we have a moral obligation to do that.

Sure there would be a few really bad offenders who we decide to lock away forever because we can not cure them and they continue to be a danger to society.

For the rest, I would flog them and then start on the rehab and the restitution.

For those motivated by their hip pocket, a good flogging is far cheaper than jail.

[SKP440]

I would not hesitate to press charges to the fullest extent of the law. There are consequences for your actions no matter what the age. Hopefully parents teach this early in life. Those that don't well then society will do it for them with the criminal justice system.

[aidxen]

One of the difficulties we face is that society and parents are not synchronized.

At school and in society there are for the most part no consequences.
Kids misbehave, get sent to the head mistress / head master / court whatever and all they get is a warning. They get told naughty naughty but there is no punishment. So in fact they have received a message and the message that what they did was sort of OK. They also receive the message that adults are not consistent. That adults are weak and ineffectual. Gutless.
Kid 1: Adults 0

Then one day the kid really gets on the wrong side of the law and then its all over red rover. Basically their life is over. It is consumed by endless court appearances, jail forever and if they ever get back into society, they have no social skills, their only "friends" are those that they have gotten to know in the jail system. No one will give them a job.

At home parents who do wish to be strict are faced with a dilemma. The dilemma is that if they do what they believe is right in order to bring up their kids then they risk losing their kids and it puts the kids in a difficult position too. The kid may feel that their parents are too strict or the punishment too harsh yet both the parents and the kids know that they have to keep it a secret or risk having the family broken up.

[malamute]

Originally Posted by Ticatica

If you were robbed by a child should you just be glad to get your things back or press charges? If you are assaulted physically or sexually by a child (anyone under 18) should you shrug it off or should they be treated as an adult? I notice a lot of people are quick to brush you off if you complain about the misdeeds of a child but I'm not so sure it's always so simple especially in light of how many parents don't parent and hold their kids accountable for their behavior.

It depends on the age.

A sexual assault is different than a physical assault in some situations.

An 8 year old punching another kid or even adult is one thing but a sexual assault by an 8 year old on a 3 or 4 year old would be another matter.

A 5 year old stealing something from my house even if he snuck into the house to get it would be quite different than a 17 year old doing the same.

Plus it depends on motive - a kid doing a "prank" might actually break some law but if the motive was just some silly childish humor, I can't see trying to get the kid for it. Something done maliciously would be quite different.