Juvenile Offenders Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Juvenile Offenders - Term Paper Example Third, majority of the juvenile offenders have a traumatic history which not only questions their mental health but also the efficiency of social institutions such as schools, high schools, hospitals, family and others to ensure proper development of children. Fourth, European Convention of Human Rights, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, United Nations Convention on Rights of the Child and other international charters and conventions clearly state about the right of every person to live and the fact that children can not receive capital punishments. Fifth, the public opinion is supports the stance of this paper. Sixth, capital punishment evades the chance of any individual to prove him or her innocent in future in light of any new developments or evidence. Introduction This paper is an attempt to explore the controversial, serious, and debatable issue about juvenile offenders. The paper discusses the question of legal execution of juvenile offenders who are less than the age of 18 years and have committed a murder. Statement of Problem The paper will take the stance that "Juvenile offenders who commit murder under the age of 18 should not be legally executed". ... First, since the past few years, this issue has been of great attention and debate in the public and expert circles. Second, in light of my personal stance on the topic, I believe that by legal execution of juvenile offenders, the law enforcement agencies are not following but breaking the law and contributing to a crime and it is our responsibility to play our part to stop it. Third, children are the future of any nation and if they are committing such actions then this is a wake up call for all authorities and with the help of this paper, I put emphasis on the fact that it is time for them to sit down and reexamine the entire system and the root cause of the same. Discussion One of most important arguments in opposition of juveniles facing legal execution is the fact that studies have shown that children under the ages of 18 are still in their developmental stages. During this age, juveniles are still immature and they fail to understand the full weight and consequences of their de cision (Siegel & Welsh, 2008). Furthermore, children are more vulnerable to peer-pressure and are more likely to engage in risky behaviors. Since they are developmentally different from adults, they fail to control their temptations and impulses, which make it morally incorrect to treat them as adults or blame them for their actions in the same way as adults (Hesse, Lawrence & Hesse, 2009). That is also the reason why 18 years is the minimum age for every big step in life. There are many countries in the world, which do not allow marriage before the age of 18; in fact, some countries and states extend the same to the limit to the age of 21 (Boesky & American Correctional Association, 2002). Moreover, 18 years is also the minimum age for voting, entering into a