Resolved: In the US, juveniles charged with violent felonies ought to be treated as adult criminals.

It is necessary to focus on a relevant example that is not uncommon to fully understand the issue at hand: A ten year old boy shot his mother dead because she asked him to retrieve firewood. The boy immediately contacted a neighbor for help as he realized the magnitude of his deeds. Should this boy be placed in prison with adults or can he recover with help from a juvenile detention center and return to a normal life by the age of eighteen? This boy can recover. His mental capacity and impulse control are not developed enough for society to give up on him. This is shown when he contacts his neighbor as he feels guilty for the crime he has committed. He did not realize the complete consequence of pulling the trigger. He is entering his teenage years in which a juvenile detention facility has the ability to help form his personality and his mind as these years are very formative. For this reason and those that follow, I negate the resolution and stand firmly that U.S. juveniles charged with violent felonies ought not to be treated as adults in the criminal justice system. Within the terms of today's resolution, we need to be focused on the value of societal welfare. Social welfare can be defined as the accomplishment or lack of accomplishment of setting strong standards for the people of the society. To achieve societal welfare, we must be focused on the value criterion of rehabilitation. Rehabilitation is best defined as the restoration of someone to a useful place in society. The government has the obligation to rehabilitate juvenile delinquents and prepare them to return to society. These juveniles, if rehabilitated, have the potential of contributing to society, which is in the best interest of societal welfare. Today's resolution asks whether we should treat juveniles charged with violent felonies as adults in the criminal justice system. According to the US Code (Title 18 Section 5031), a juvenile is a person who "has not attained his or her twenty-first birthday." Although this is the case, this is subject to state law. According to the US Code (Title 18 Section 924), a violent felony is defined as "any act … that has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person of another; or is burglary, arson, or extortion, involves use of explosives, or otherwise involves conduct that presents a serious potential risk of physical injury to another." The law that prevents juveniles from being treated as adults in the criminal justice system is found in the US Code (Title 18 Section 5039). It states, "No juvenile committed…to the custody of the Attorney General may be placed or retained in an adult jail or correctional institution in which he has regular contact with adults incarcerated." As it stands now, violent juveniles are placed in facilities separate from incarcerated adults and they do not receive a trial by jury. The media does not know the identities of the juvenile offenders and their records do not reflect that they were criminals as juveniles. Today, the affirmative is suggesting a change to this legislation. This is not in the best interest of the United States and therefore, I stand firmly in the resolution that juveniles charged with violent felonies ought not to be treated as adults in the criminal justice system. My first contention is that imposing an adult prison sentence on a juvenile jeopardizes society's ability to rehabilitate the juvenile. Spending time with hardened criminals and being influenced by these people does not lead to a change in behavior that is needed for these juveniles to change. Throughout childhood years, it is consistently reinforced that who we spend time with significantly influences who we become as people. According to this theory, juveniles incarcerated with adults will not change their behavior and the poor influences may propel them into a life of crime upon their release from prison. In a juvenile detention center, these juveniles are influenced by positive adults who encourage them to avoid crime in the future. The purpose of juvenile detention centers is to rehabilitate these minors and this cannot be achieved in adult prisons. It is important that these juveniles are able to return to society in a better mental state because they can contribute to society, which is in the best interest of societal welfare. My second contention is that being around these criminals is not ideal for the safety of these juveniles. Many of these criminals are in prison for violent crimes. According to the US Department of Justice, about 52 percent of all offenses are violent crimes. It is not a good idea to place vulnerable youths with hardened criminals who have a past history of violence. This significantly increases the chance that these minors will be abused in prison. It is not in the best interest of societal welfare to place vulernerable juveniles in a situation that threatens their well being. Third, the brain of a teenager or younger is not fully developed and these juveniles' decisions should not harm their future. A person's brain is not fully matured until the age of twenty-five, specifically the prefrontal cortex, which governs reasoning, advanced thought and impulse control. This means that one might not make a decision in his later years that he makes as a minor. The frontal lobe is the last part of the brain to completely develop. The maturation of the frontal lobe has been shown to correlate with cognitive functioning. During this period, adolescents tend to rely on emotions and their gut feelings rather than using their cognitive abilities. The brain of teenager or younger is not fully developed and it does not take their potential to contribute to society and therefore it is not in the best interest of societal welfare to allow these juveniles' decisions to harm their future. Today, I, the negative, negate the resolution, on the basis of societal welfare through rehabilitation.