It is often argued that young people who commit crimes should receive the same punishments as adults, while others believe that teenagers should be treated more leniently because of their age. Although some people claim that strict punishments may negatively affect young offenders’ futures, I believe that children and adults should be held equally responsible for their actions because everyone should have the same rights and responsibilities regardless of age.
On the one hand, all individuals must have the same responsibility whether they are children or adults. In Korea, many teenagers were not sentenced due to their age. The reason is that there are not many significant convictions for young people who are under 13 in Korea. As a consequence, some children or students overuse their rights and commit a crime deliberately. One of the most common crime categories, for example, is bullying other people, which is particularly ubiquitous in middle and high schools. In addition, the Korean government has not solved this problem successfully. However, they always broadcast films that show the negative consequences of harming each other, and possible ways to protect themselves from bullies.
On the other hand, the majority of people, especially parents, do not support punishing young people, as they believe that imprisoning teenagers the same as adults is harmful for children’s future careers. Moreover, most teenagers who are behind bars cannot become positive after they are released from prison. Conversely, such young people are highly likely to start their criminal career or commit a crime again, because they may become more rude and cruel in prison. Although it is dangerous for teenagers to be convicted at an early age, victims of such crimes are more unfortunate than young offenders.
In conclusion, although many people believe that punishing young offenders in the same way as adults can damage their prospects, I believe that equal punishment is necessary to ensure justice and prevent young people from deliberately committing crimes. Therefore, age should not be a reason to avoid appropriate consequences for serious offences.