Some people argue that the young criminals should be sentenced as fully-grown individuals. Although each crime needs to be punished to preserve discipline in the society, I totally disagree with that point of view for several factors.
In my opinion, most of the time the reasons why the youth commit crime are different from those of adults’. When people are young they may be easily deceived by true villains who tend to take advantage of them. This is a usual way among drug-dealers and smugglers in many societies, especially those in which socio-economic problems make people accept breaking the law for money and food. Moreover, young people may perpetrate crime because of peer pressure, mental health issues like instability that occur during maturity time, and desire for material possessions which stems from consumerism culture. Finally, an increasing number of children and adolescents suffer from inappropriate parental guidance, which rises the risk of future crimes, which should be considered when a young person is arrested in criminal activities.
On the other hand, there are a wide range of reasons why it is not suitable to treat young people like mature ones. Severe punishments may prevent professional criminals from repeating that but have devastating results on younger ones. It may have a worse effect on their future job and education and lead them more on the path of crime and murder. Moreover, young people learn from their mistakes. They should be aware of what is wrong and right and make sure not to repeat it again by taking some measures like free therapy, special classes to raise their morality, and doing free social services to have more contact with ordinary people. So, why we should not take a nice approach toward young law-breakers to save them before they fully drown in the swamp of crime?
In conclusion, although some claim that crime should be punished regardless of who commits it, I totally believe that age is a critical factor that needs to be considered.