Juvenile Lawbreakers

1. http://tablet.olivesoftware.com/Olive/Tablet/AustinAmericanStatesman/SharedArticle.aspx?href=AAS%2F2013%2F09%2F23&id=Ar01101
2. Category of problem: Children
3. Level of problem: State level
4. The article concerns: 17-year-old lawbreakers are put into the adult system, but should be treated like the children that they are be put into the juvenile system.
5. Why is this important to families/individuals OR how does it affect individuals/families?
       --This would greatly affect 17-year-old children and their families. If they were to commit a crime, they would not have to carry around the burden of an adult rap sheet. 
6. What are your views on the issue/policy?
       --I agree with this article in the fact that 17-year-old children are, in fact, children and they should be treated as such. I know that when I was in high school, my fellow students did dumb and immature things all the time. Things like smoke on campus, steal things from teachers, or, like in the article, go and get drunk during school hours no less. "The crimes committed by 17-year-olds are a lot like the crimes committed by 16-year-olds, as opposed to the more serious crimes more commonly committed by adults." These are things that kids do to challenge authority and themselves to see if they can get away with it. After they do these things they either get caught or are lucky enough not to, and they still do eventually learn from their childish acts. Putting 17-year-olds through juvenile court instead of the adult system will save their future. Yes, punish children for doing things they know they should not be doing, but they are still children and they have time to learn from their mistakes and be rehabilitated.
       As a 21-year-old college student, when I pass high school students they come across to me as naive, juvenile, and childish. My friends and I most likely looked the same to a then college student. However, my friends and I thought we were super cool and mature. I now realize that might not have been the case. I know if I had done something worthy of being arrested I would have definitely been that naive, juvenile, and childish high school student that I think of today.