Life for a Child
Jordan Brown was a normal eleven year old boy until the day he killed his father's pregnant fiance. Unless his lawyers can convince the court otherwise, this now thirteen year old boy will spend the rest of his life behind bars(Pilkington). Its understandable that the family would want justice, but is it justice for a child's life to be spent behind bars. Jordan is a little boy, at the time he did this he was not capable of making life altering decisions, especially one that practically ends his opportunity at life. A child no matter what crime they commit should not be punished with life in prison. When it comes to juvenile crimes, the focus should be to rehabilitate the child and let them continue with a better life, as opposed to just punishing a criminal for their crime like in the adult system. Anyone under the age of eighteen should not be eligible to receive a life sentence. A child needs time to develop and they cant do so if they are spending their life in prison for a crime they committed at a young age. Afterall would you continue to punish a man at age thirty-two for killing a cat when he was twelve.
In most cases, the person you are growing up is nothing compared to who you become as an adult. Im sure if just about any adult looks back into their past, they would regret a majority of the things they did as juveniles. When you're young the prospects of the future don't relatively exist. You do impulsive things without thought of how it could affect you. It's the same for many of the adults now sitting behind bars for a crime they committed when they were young. They live with remorse and guilt over stupid mistakes they made when the were younger, the mistakes may be huge and the punishment should be severe but a life for a life is a bit extreme. One case in particular is the case of Matthew Bentley. In 1997, when Bentley was just fourteen, he broke into a house in attempt to steal a car and some cash. While in the house he stole a gun and shot the home owner when he was confronted(“Prison Voices: Matthew Bentley: Irredeemable at 14?”). He didn't intend to go in and kill the woman but it happened at it was a mistake. He commited a crime without a doubt, but the crime he intended to commit was far less severe than the outcome. He should be punished in some way but just deciding he's a criminal and locking him away doesn't help anyone. He should have been given the chance to redeem himself, to change who he was and do better and be better. He was a thief, and that can be helped. He's a child who made a mistake not a murderer. At Bentleys resentencing he addresses the court, and apologizes for what he did. He goes out of his way to express the remorse he felt for taking an innocent woman's life(Thumbnet). Mathew states in an interview with ACLU that he has “regretted it ever since” he commited the crime(“Prison Voices: Matthew Bentley: Irredeemable at 14?”). He didn't go in intending to kill the woman, he didn't go in with a gun to cause bloodshed. He broke in to steal some things, but instead he found a gun. When she walked in and caught him he got scared and made a mistake. His intentions were not to kill her. He made a deadly mistake, but that doesnt mean he deserves to spend his life in prison. You cannot hold a child responsible for life on account of a mistake they made as a child.
As a child growing up, you're at your most influential. Everything a child witnesses impacts who they are. The background of a child's life is a great factor in the things a child does. If the child was to grow up in a home that isn't suitable then it's likely that he or she would make more mistakes growing up. Every little detail impacts how a child responds in certain situations. In the above paragraph I mentioned Matthew Bentley, who was convicted of first degree murder. Matthew didn't grow up in the most stable environment, by the time he was ten his “father was in jail for sexually abusing a relative and his half brother was in jail for raping a sibling”(“Prison Voices: Matthew Bentley: Irredeemable at 14?”). Obviously killing someone is more severe than sexual abuse but criminal activity of any kind is enough to offset a child and take away their rationality. Also as i mentioned above he wasn't intending to kill her he was committing a less severe crime. While it's not always the case, statistically speaking, “nearly 80 percent of juvenile lifers reported witnessing violence in their homes; more than half (54.1%) witnessed weekly violence in their neighborhoods”(“Facts and Infographics about Life Without Parole for Children.”) Children learn the most from their environment and if they are raised in a place where violence and crime is the normal, that's how they will live. Influence is a key factor in the way a child grows up and bad influences often lead to criminal lifestyles/ Instead of just punishing the child, they should get the chance to be rehabilitated and given a second chance at life. Yeah they may have done something horrible but why cant you teach them the right way of life instead of leaving them to die because they messed up. Children are easily influenced so why not change how they are influenced. Teach them right from wrong and let them live lives that are beneficial.
