So I just need your opinion on this issue, here are the questions... State and explain your opinion on whether Texas sho

[answerhappygod]

So I just need your opinion on this issue, here are thequestions...
State and explain your opinion on whether Texas shouldraise the age of adulthood to 18 for criminalmatters.
What are some of your ideas in helping better shapeyouths’ minds that will dilute them from convictingcrimes?
Note: Plz answer the separately and also make sure bothof them have a combination of at least 500words.
If you need some context :
"
In Texas, a juvenile is anyone convicted of a crime at least 10years old who learns about the consequence of their action, doescommunity service, and is treated as a youth. However, at the ageof 17, Texans are automatically sent to the adult justice system.Texas is one of the three states where 17-year-olds who have beenconvicted of a crime can be sent to the adult justice system.Georgia and Wisconsin are the other two states that follow the samerule. There has been a debate on whether Texas should raise the ageof adulthood to 18 for criminal matters.
Some argue that putting 17-year-olds in adult prisons will putthem at risk because most people in adult prisons have awfulcriminal records. From the National Inmate Survey conducted by theUnited States Department of Justice, a report showed that “1.8percent of 16 and 17-year-olds jailed in adult facilities havereported being sexually abused while in custody… by other adultinmates” (Kraut). Adult criminals tend to believe youths arevulnerable and weak. They abuse the youth and most of the time getaway with it because in adult prisons there is no protection forthe youth. Not only do youth get abused by criminals but also bystaff members in the prison system. Researchers found that “3.2percent of the 16 and 17-year-olds were abused by staff” (Saddlar).Prison staff abuse their power and believe they are “prisonwardens” so they hurt and abuse the youth as a sign of justice forthe victim. Most prison staff get away with it because peoplebelieve the prison staff over a criminal youth who has beenabused.
Yet another factor for the argument against juveniles in adultprison is that it has shown that 60-70% of youths behind bars arementally ill (Nichols). In adult prisons, trying to emulate adults,results in their punishments being more hostile, which furtherhurts the youth’s mental illness. As a result, they are losingtheir sense of hope and are more likely to kill themselves. Studiesshow that “children incarcerated in adult prisons are 36 times morelikely to commit suicide than children detained in juveniledetention centers” (Saddlar). This hopelessness is caused by a lostconnection and guidance when they are surrounded by adults who havecommitted more egregious crimes than the youth.
Others say that having youths held accountable for their actionsas adults teaches them real-world consequences. Crimes thatjuveniles commit escalate as they get older, meaning usually theolder the youth is the more serious crime they commit. For example,in 2016, “9% of the known juvenile homicide offenders were underthe age of 15… same data set, 79% of the offenders were either 16or 17 years old at the time they committed the crime” (Regoli).Prosecuting youth as adults shows them that they can’t get awaywith heinous crimes just because they are a few months away frombecoming adults. Punishing them to the full extent may make youththink twice before doing a crime again. A popular saying is, “oldenough to do the crime, old enough to do the time”, meaning if aperson is old enough to do a crime, they should be held fullyresponsible and accountable for theiractions.
Some argue that when 17-year-olds are held in the adult justicesystem, it provides justice to the victims. About 10.8% of crimescommitted by 17-year-olds are assaulting (Merfish et al.). Thereshould be serious consequences since another person’s life has beenaffected. If these youth are prosecuted at the youth level, theymay be released at age 25, which is considered a short amount oftime for rehabilitation, meaning it is more likely they may assaultagain. In 2015, Joseph Doyle, a researcher at MIT and a colleagueat Brown, did research to determine the “rate of adult re-offensefor prior juvenile offenders” (“Do We Know the Full Extent ofJuvenile Recidivism?”). The study showed that “40% of juvenileoffenders were incarcerated in an adult prison for reoffending bythe time they turned 25” (“Do We Know the Full Extent of JuvenileRecidivism?”). When the youths are held in adult prisons, itcreates peace for the victims that may forever be scarred by thecrimes. In adult prisons, the time sentence is longer which allowsthe criminals to have more time for rehabilitation.
These arguments provide valid points on the good and bad ofraising the age of adulthood to 18 for criminal matters. Makingthis decision is very hard as there is no apparent solution thatwill be fair in every instance for every juvenile. The best thingto do is provide as much support as possible in building asupportive community for the youth to help them stay away fromcrimes in the first place. Every juvenile kept from a life crimewill affect many people in a positive way and will prevent unduecosts to society."