Week 7 Blog

Trying teens as adults

In a very small section of our text they address juveniles tried as adults. Normally crimes committed by a minor are handled in the juvenile justice system, unless the crime is serious or violent. The books prompts us to ask ourselves if the age should be lowered to be tried as an adult given everything learned in this chapter. In my opinion there are many factors that are involved in committing a serious and violent crime for anyone. Mental health, environment, chemical dependency, socio economics etc. I do take those crimes seriously but I think that any child that commits a serious or violent crime should be assessed, and all circumstances should be taken into consideration before they decided to try them as an adult. It is obvious by our text that teenage brains are not always fully capable of understanding the impact of their crime. When I was in high school a neighborhood boy named Ryan Alexander (16 at the time) killed an 8 year old Michael Busby with a lethal dose of insulin. He also beat the young boy and cut him. I was acquainted with both of these boys and it was a shock to the whole town. In one of the articles they described Ryan Alexander’s bedroom having pictures of nude children and books on how to kill with needles. He was obviously a disturbed child. He used to walk around in all black with a trench coat on, never a smile on his face, he was a creepy guy. He was also on a probationary period for other crimes he had committed. There were obviously multiple issues at play here, I think he did deserved to be charged as an adult due to all the circumstances and the premeditated nature. He received a life sentence for his crime. I’m not sure how I feel about a life sentence for a 16 year old.

I guess if I had unlimited research for this subject I would like to see a system be put into place for determining to try teens as adults. I’d also like to know how a teen could change developmentally after serving a long sentence. Could they be rehabilitated?

Week 6 Blog

Teenage Accidental Death

 

This week’s material I found most interesting and shocking was the number of firearm and motor vehicle deaths to adolescents. The difference in gender/ethnicity and cause of death is appalling. As Latin American and African American males were more likely to die to firearms and European Americans and Asian Americans were more likely to die in motor vehicle accidents. After reading our chapters this week I can see why these causes of death are so prevalent. There is a lack of development in the frontal cortex of the teenage brain, making teenagers impulsive.

 

When I was a teenager I thought I was ten feet tall and bullet proof. I used to participate in the illegal street races, shoplift at the mall, steal alcohol, and just act all around crazy. I never thought I would get caught or be in trouble. Until I was in a car accident and my mom found out. That was a big wake up call. I took a lot of risks that I look back on now and say to myself “what on earth was I thinking?” It is all part of the teenage mind.

 

Our texts says that many of these accidental deaths are preventable. Monitoring who your children are with, who is driving the car they are riding in? How old are your children’s friends? Does your child or their friends drink? Do your child’s friend’s parents have a firearm? I think those are all important things to ask of your teenager and their friend’s parents.

 

For research I would like to know if there is a socioeconomic influence on these deaths. Do these children come from home that have a single parent? Or parents that work multiple jobs? Parents who are unemployed? How much does their financial standing have to do with the likelihood of an accidental death?

Week 5 Blog

Adopted Children and Foster Homes

Our text describes “adopted child’s syndrome” as a theory that adopted children are more prone to behavioral issues, substance abuse and criminal history. In my experience this has been true. The text also states that pre-adoption experiences is what really can cause these behavioral experiences. If we know this to be true than why doesn’t it take more effort to become a foster parent? After doing some research I found that it can take 1-3 months of training or 25 to 35 hours, there is no income requirement, You can be single and unmarried, and some agencies even let you foster at only 21 years of age. Maybe these foster parents are not financially and emotionally for this responsibility. My sister was put into foster care and was shuffled from house to house because of very severe ADHD. She was a challenging child to deal with. During that time she was a victim of sexual and physical abuse by other children and adults at the various homes. Finally she was adopted at 5 years old by a family member. However, the damage had been done and she is not doing well in her life. As described in the “effects of abuse on children” section, her social and emotional development was majorly damaged which contributed to, failure to bond, poor relationships, poor academics, and eventually drug use and criminal activity.

My biggest question that I would like to investigate is, how can we make foster homes a safer environment for children? There is obviously something wrong with this system, how come nobody is fixing it?