Notes

Affirmative Speech 1
America’s youth and adult prison population peaked in the late 1990, a spiking rate more than 107,000 kids were behind bars.

Research shows that children prosecuted in the adult in the adult criminal justice system are more likely to reoffend than those held in the juvenile justice system.” According to the Southern Poverty Law Center.


Hello, Good afternoon my name is _____________ and I represent the affirmative resolution that adolescents should not be charged as adults. We are to argue the following reasons abuse,mental issues, and rehabilitation.

Justification 1: Abuse
Thousands of juveniles are being prosecuted in the adult criminal justice systems. Most of these young offenders will suffer some type of assault. “Within 72 hours in jail the inmates will be abused by an older person”” according to Terence T. Gorski,president of CENAPS and clinical director of its Relapse Prevention Certification School. The effects on the young offenders include suicide, suicide attempts, severe personality damage, and development of severe and permanent psychiatric symptoms. Sending to jail is making them more dangerous not less. For instance Nikita Patrick entered an Alabama prison at the age of 16.In a little more than a year behind bars, he has witnessed more than 30 stabbings. He learned some lessons: Failing to turn over his property when a prisoner demands it puts him at risk of being stabbed, as does refusing a sexual overture. This thought hangs over him constantly. John Derrick* has been fending off sexual advances and assaults since arriving at a prison in Alabama at age 16. Many young inmates simply submit to older inmates because they know the guards probably won’t help them. According to the Centers for Disease Control youth that are put into the adult criminal justice system are 34% more likely to commit a crime again than kids put into a juvenile correctional facility. Mainly because of the mental and physical abuse they suffer while incarcerated. When youth are put into adult prison they do not get the educational and rehabilitation purposes which makes them vulnerable to adult prisoners. Most states feel that if you can’t vote you do not need to be in adult prison. The sextual abuse makes them more likely to commit sucide. Some kids get sent to prison and didn’t even commit the crime. For example, Davontae Sanford was a fourteen year old boy who was interrogated for two days without a parent or lawyer and eventually confessed to murder. He was known for telling elaborate false stories the

Justification 2: Mental issues
Research has shown that children in the adult criminal justice system are 34 percent more likely to be arrested again than those convicted of similar offenses in juvenile court. They also are 36 times more likely to commit suicide than those in juvenile rehabilitation.The human brain does not fully develop until the mid-20s and the portion of the brain that governs rational a from hhtp:/CNN.com
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decision-making is the last to develop. This means a child may engage in dangerous behavior without fully realizing the risks and consequences for themselves and others. “I was impulsive. I wouldn’t think about the consequences,” said Luke R., a Florida youth serving a prison sentence for robbery. After presiding over juvenile court for 14 years, one Florida judge summed up the young people this way: “I’ve been here long enough to understand that when someone is 16 and I ask them why they did it and they say ‘I don’t know,’ I believe them.” said Jerri Katzerman, SPLC deputy legal director. Some kids don't even know what they did.In the early part of the decade, researchers for the MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Adolescent Development and Juvenile Justice found that teenagers are less blameworthy than adults, and that their capacities change significantly over the course of adolescence.

Justification 3:Rehabilitation
Children would probably suffer extreme suffering as they need to go to therapy. Rehabilitation as a child could cost several thousands of dollars to therapy as a result of being put in adult prison. Many kids don't know what is bad because their brains aren't developed all the way. Even early adults’ brains won’t be fully developed until they are 25. Rehabilitation fixes mental health says https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/criminals-need-mental-health-care/


How can you turn a kid a kid into a adult that did an adult thing?Ask any parents of an 11-year-old if they think their child is really just a small adult!

Judges ,you have heard our arguments about today's resolution. Adolescents should not be tried as adults. One, Most of these young offenders will suffer some type of assault. “Within 72 hours in jail the will
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be abused by an older person”. Two, Adolescents mostly have mental issues and need help not jail. We urge you to vote for the affirmative side because Jail affects a child badly and kids need to be around other kids. Also many children need counseling or help don't put them in jail then later on they will commit a similar crime. We now stand for cross examination.