I. In Chicago, an 11-year old gang member shoots a 14-year old girl to death. In turn, the young gang member is found dead a few days later with two bullets in the back of his head. His suspected killers are 14 and 16 years old. In Littleton, Colorado, two students opened fire on classmates and teachers with semiautomatic weapons and homemade bombs, killing 12 students and a teacher, before turning their weapons on themselves and taking their own lives. In Somerset, Pennsylvania, a 14-year-old is charged with hammering nails into the heels of a younger boy. In Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina, a 13-year-old boy is accused of beating a 22-year-old female neighbor with a mop handle and then raping her. These hellish snapshots re-emphasize one major idea in modern culture: juvenile justice reforms need to dig deeper. Such startling headlines are clear indications that tougher penalities for junvenile crime must be implemented.
II. Statistics show that juvenile crime is on the rise
A. According to FBI records, people under the age of 18 account for 1/3 of all arrests for burglary, larceny-theft and motor vehicle theft, 13% for aggravated assault, 26% for robbery, and 7% for murder.
B. Between 1983 and 1992, juvenile arrest rates jumped 128% for murder and non-negligent manslaughter, 95% for aggravated assault, and 25% for rape.
C. In 1994, Florida, Michigan, New York, Texas, California and Illinois alone accounted for 56% of juveniles arrested for murder.
III. Stiffer penalties will enforce accountability for one's own actions
A. Current punishment is not serious enough to discourage juvenile violence.
1. Nearly forty percent have their cases dismissed before or during the trial stage.
2. When courts finally lock an older teen up, more often than not, that teen has accumulated a long rap sheet, with arrests starting in the early teens.
3. Forty-three percent of juveniles in state institutions have more than ...