Alexis Amaya Esparza

Mr.Cook
Honors ELA
14 October 2014

In my opinion, when kids commit a crime they should not be tried as an adult
since if a kid commits a dangerous crime that threatens others safety, it is very clear
that the kid is not stable enough to be left alone but get the help that they need.
There has been many cases of kids committing horrible crimes that lead people
to contradict if they should be tried as adults. In the famous case of El Ponchis, the 14-
year-old Mexican boy was accused of many crimes including cutting peoples heads off.
We all know that Mexico is a very violent country that has been overrun by drug lords,
guns, drugs, and powerful gangs. People say that El Ponchis was brainwashed by the
country's ways of living and that gang members were the ones that made El Ponchis
commit the crimes. After evidence was collected El Ponchis was sent to jail where he
would reflect on what he had done. Honestly I think that this boy should not have been
sent to jail because of his age and the type of people he is looks up to. The kid barely
turned into a teenager and all he will remember from his teenage years is the dark walls
and bars that he was stuck in for a very long time. You also have to take in mind that
the kid was surrounded by violence his entire childhood so he was destined to become
one of the bad people that influenced him. Onesimo Cepeda Silva said, Minors who
commit crimes such as El Ponchis should receive psychiatric and psychological
treatment, instead of being tried as adults. I completely agree with this idea because it
is a very logical thing to do when it comes to these types of circumstances. When there
are cases like this, people should take in every single detail so that innocent people do
not get punished for something they did not do or would not have not done. It would be
so much better if a child was getting help instead of punished. In El Ponchis case, he
should have gotten mental help because no person in their right mind would intend to
hurt another human being.
I also think that the government should keep the age restriction at eighteen
because it is a perfect age where people should start to think very clear about their
actions. Prisons separated by age groups would be a better way to handle things rather
than having different ages in just one place. A prison for like teens would have special
care like a psychologist and psychiatrists that would help them come their right senses.
Clearly it is better to deal with the problem rather than ignoring it. I mean that instead of
having a kid go to jail have the kid get medical treatment to have them realize that what
they have done is wrong. There has also been a lot of cases where kids are let go early
and they commit the same crime again. I heard of this one story where a teenage boy
shot his girlfriend when he caught her cheating. Well after the police let him go because
he was underage and the crime was done under some sort of outrage attack, a week
later the same boy shot another girl who had previously cheated on one of his friends. If
there was some sort of place where he could have been taken care of, this entire
horrible event might of not even occur. The kid did not get any sort of mental help or a
punishment for his actions and for that reasons two girls lives were taken away. Life
would be so much better if people who show they are not able to act normal get help we
can avoid many incidents that hurt so many people.
If you think that sending kids to jail for committing crimes is the way to solve any
sort of problem, you are not thinking deep enough to get the best results out of situation.
Having a kid get mental help when they murder someone or commit a crime is a billion
times better than locking them up in a jail cell where they build up more hatred and
violence that they will keet up inside them.