Juvenile Justice would be useful for classes on Criminal Justice, Civics, Ethics, and Sociology. It is appropriate for high school and college. Due to the graphic nature of some of the footage shown in Juvenile Justice , educators are urged to use discretion in showing this film to younger students. According to Juvenile Justice, the juvenile justice system is based not on punishment, but on hope. Historically, juveniles in the United States have been tried differently than adults.
Most juvenile offenders have a history of child abuse.
The overwhelming percentage of juvenile offenders are male. With the class divided into two sections, debate the pros and cons of applying the death penalty to juveniles in particular, and all offenders in general. Research the case of Leopold and Loeb, two youthful murderers of the early twentieth century. Take an account of a violent juvenile crime from the newspaper and hold a trial in your classroom. Assign a prosecutor and a lawyer for the defense, witnesses, a judge and a jury, and conduct the trial according to the legal guidelines of the American judicial system.