What To Do With Kids Who Commit Crimes?

[Rainman]

I've been reading some disturbing news stories today. Moving from one bad one to another which is worse and . . . yeah, in that order. So there's this story I read about a 7 yr old who robbed his classmate. He knocked him out and took $5 he had on him. He was arrested and cuffed to the wall of a police precinct for 6 hours. Extreme?

Then you aren't ready for this. In the UK:

January 31, 2015.

That's only a few days ago.

Shock official figures obtained by the Sunday Mirror show nearly 800 under nines have carried out sex crimes against other children since 2009

The sickening cases include:

- A THREE-YEAR-OLD boy who sexually assaulted another youngster in Lancashire.
- A FIVE-YEAR-OLD lad found to have raped a boy in Lincolnshire.
- Dozens more children under 10 were found to have committed sexual assaults in Greater Manchester, including a seven-year-old girl who sexually assaulted a boy.

A rapist aged FOUR is among almost 800 children investigated for sex crimes - Mirror Online


These kids despite having committed crimes couldn't be prosecuted. What action do you think should be taken against such kids?

 

[Rosyrain]

It used to be that the worst you had to deal with a kid is the occasional defacing of property or a school fight, but now they are starting to commit real adult crimes at very young ages and I am not sure there is a plan in place by the justice system to handle these things. I think that more severe crimes should be punished accordingly based on the psychological mindset of someone that young.

 

[Shimus]

Obviously they need to be dealt with one a per-person basis, but the majority of them could probably be taken from immediate contact with other children and homeschooled, and then taught from an early age what is right and wrong, as to be reintroduced after due rehabilitation.

 

[Kittyworker]

I think they should be treated like any other criminal. Not in that they are housed in the same prisons, but I feel like they should be taken away from the parents and housed in an isolated place away from other non-offending children. They should continue to be schooled as most of the crimes aren't crimes that will keep them incarcerated too long.

 

[missbishi]

One thing is certain, these children need some sort of enforced treatment. Removing them from the home environment might end up to be the best thing to happen to them, after all, you have to question where they pick up these behaviors from!

 

[OMGnoWAY]

I'm of the opinion that the adult brain doesn't mature until 15, so I truly believe there should be reduced sentencing for people under that age. I also believe that IN GENERAL, our legal system should be more focused on offering recovery and rehabilitation therapies instead of just punishments.

People, but people under 25 especially, should be treated like HUMAN BEINGS. We should try to find out WHY they are committing crimes and see if we can help them deal with those issues rather than just locking them up.

 

[Patrick]

I think intense counselling and talks with both the child and parents is necessary for children below 15. Above that, I think that they should have a fair grasp of right and wrong, and the current state correctional facilities would serve them well.

 

[jeremy2]

Such minors are better off being rehabilitated and taken for counseling. Jailing them is not an option and you'd have to resort to other measures. Despite their crimes being serious,their age has to be taken into consideration when meting out justice to them.

 

[bala]

This sounded pretty much like an oxymoron to me.Kids and crimes,but since it has become more than just imagination today,we better put them in some therapy of sorts/rehabilitation to check if they can change,lest.JAIL !!

 

[Onionman]

It would depend on how serious it was. If it was something that I could deal with, I would handle it myself. But if we are talking about something more extreme, I think I would have to speak to the police.

 

[shilpa123]

I believe it all depends on the kind of crime committed by the children. Mostly they do it out of joy and do not really understand what exactly is happening. Their punishment should be quite less.

 

[stevesxs9]

I think this is a very delicate subject matter. It starts at home with discipline. But the problem is how much authority should the law take away from the parents to keep discipline from becoming abuse? Then you have to factor in kids who grow up without parental figures in their life. It's definitely a big problem these days.

 

[RingoBerry]

For god's sake. How did they even know anything about sex in the first place? An 11 year old may make some sense because children, they'd be entering adolescent phase in a yew or so but a 3 and a 5 year old is just unbelievable. Either someone did it to them or they were expose to sex.

 

[Whitewolf2578]

I know people hate when others say thing, but I blame video games. It really seems to have a negative effect on children. I heard about a story of a kid after playing Grand Theft Auto he tried to act it out by pulling someone out of their car or something. It was crazy. Also you have to blame the parents for not doing their job. You can't really blame the kid for doing it, he wasn't taught right from wrong.

 

[JoanMcWench]

I'm not so sure how I feel about the 'scared straight' approach. Not because I'm against it but because I don't think it goes far enough. These kids know that they are in a safe place when they visit these jails/prisons & experience the tirades of inmates. They know they cannot hurt them so it's easy to laugh or not care. I mean if the people who created this program believe the counseling is the most influential part of the experience why go through the shaming process? To break wills?

 

[Waynefire]

I think this really depends on the situation. I know some cops that will be hard as nails on the kids to correct them, but other times it deserves a little bit of compassion. So it really is situation dependent because it can vary so much from kid to kid.

 

[Josie]

Are you kidding me??? Children that young are SEEING these things or they are happening TO them. Go straight to the parents! Treat them like adults? I'm speechless.

As for the rest... I read a great article the other day about kids of years past compared to today and kids way back did far more damage to people than they do now. I mean the regular stuff at school or after in the neighbourhoods. I think it's overkill. I think the child that hurt the other for money needs to be scared straight. Take him to a prison and show him what a future of crime holds for him. But kids are being put in cuffs for the STUPIDEST things these days. Schools are daily, temporary prisons now.. it's revolting.

 

[Gabe]

While the media and video games have a part to play, parents or a lack of parental guidance also plays a part. I think intense therapy with the parents and a detention center is necessary as these children are dangerous. In the case of Jamie Bulger both killers are now free under new identities, but Jamie was two-years-old and the boys were both ten-years-old. It was shown they had grown up as bullies so maybe these small crimes need to be halted before they get worse.

 

[hellonamesdan]

It's really tricky when it comes to minors, especially really young kids. First I think it's important for the police to inspect the home, interview the parents and the family members and the people who are closest to the child. Do a full psychological evaluation of the child to see if there is some sort of medical and psychological problem with the child that could be helped with medication or treatment, and if possible then take other measures. But you really can't just jump to conclusions when it comes to kids.

 

[GlacialDoom]

It really depends on the age of the child and most importantly, on the gravity of the crime. If a child is 2 and shoots his parents (it happened), you can't imprison him. Hell, you can't even explain that what he did was bad. However, if a 14 year old kills someone, that's a whole other story, and I believe they should be sent to a special school.