There was a recent incident where a teenager was arrested in class
at their high school for an armed robbery crime. Some people were surprised
that the teenager was arrested at school, even though the crime didn’t
happen at the school. Even more people were shocked that the teenager
will be tried as an adult for the crime, because a common misconception
is that a juvenile can’t be treated as an adult.
It is important to know that juveniles can and will be treated as adults
when they commit crimes that are known as the Seven Deadly Sins.
The Seven Deadly Sins are:
1. Murder
2. Rape
3. Armed robbery with firearm
4. Aggravated child molestation
5. Aggravated sodomy
6. Aggravated sexual battery
7. Voluntary manslaughter
If a juvenile is tried as an adult for a crime, this means that they will enter
the adult criminal justice system instead of the juvenile criminal justice system.
The juvenile justice system is focused on rehabilitation, and the adult criminal justice system
is focused on punishment; including harsher sentences.
The Sid Center offers programs that are focused on dismantling the
School To Prison Pipeline for Black males. A primary purpose of these
programs is to prevent juveniles from entering the adult criminal justice system.
A lot of parents are distraught when they discover that their child
will be tried as an adult for a first offense because they committed
one of the Seven Deadly Sins crimes.
When I work with juvenile clients who are at-risk of entering the
adult criminal justice system we focus on certain risk factors
for prevention and intervention.
These risk factors include: disruptive behavior at school and/or home,
phone calls from the school regarding the child’s behavior, and
gang involvement.
Awareness is an important part of prevention, so please share
this information with juveniles and their parents who may be at-risk.
