FREE ESSAY ON TEACH YOUR CHILDREN WELL

TEACH YOUR CHILDREN WELL

New California law states that it is up to the prosecutors in a case as to whether minors
are charged as adults for violent crimes. What should a judge do when eight boys from
suburban middle class families, confess to armed robbery and assault and battery of five
Hispanic immigrant farm workers? In this case, one must realize what a delicate situation
this has come to be. If tried as adults these eight boys could spend their next sixteen
years in juvenile detention. They were described as being 'good boys' with no other marks
on their records. With only one reason for committing such a crime, these boys need to
face their racism while justice is being served, with non-traditional punishment that
will teach an unforgettable lesson.
As upper-middle class, above-average students, even some athletes, these boys obviously
do not know what life is all about. Authorities said that the boys were specifically
looking for Hispanic workers to attack, so that shows the boys had some type of motive.
In this day and age where Americans have a need to be treated as equal; equal opportunity
employers, equal rights for men, women, African-American, Chinese-American, and every
other group of people in this country, one would think that somewhere along the line
children would get the message that we are all the same. Children should be taught to
love, not hate. It is painful to see such a crime committed just for the mere fact that
they were different. Didn't hate crimes end in the sixties? Why is it that still parents
cannot or will not instill in their children ideals of an equal human race? Black or
white, brown or red, rich or poor, aren't we all the same when you turn out the lights? I
am not saying that I think this is entirely the parents' fault, but they do need to take
blame. At the age these boys are at, their parents are some of their few role models, and
they always will be, but at this age, parents are the most influential people in a
child's life, nothing can come close to a mother's scorn, or a fathers praise. In that
sense too, children believe in what their parents believe in, not because it is right,
but because it is the only way they know. So, parents should watch when they say they
hate someone or some group and we should all try to be better people, for the sake of our
children. (Gil Garcetti 588-590) 
In a crime this violent, considering the assailants and their victims, a measure of
justice needs to be served. The assailants need to take responsibility for their actions.
However, sixteen years in a juvenile detention facility does not seem the best answer.
James Twitchell believes that, In recent years the dispensers of the law are finally
realizing that shame has a place in punishment. (602) And so, there needs to be a way of
measuring how the boys are rehabilitated, and their community needs to be involved, as
well as their parents and friends. Justice means fairness. It means righteousness,
impartiality, honesty, and integrity. Justice should be measured by the victims
themselves, they should get to see their assailants suffer and learn from their mistakes.
That is what justice is all about. These boy assailants need to witness justice first
hand in order for it to have any affect ct on them. (Garcetti 588-590)
A punishment that can validate such a hiesous crime needs to be quite creative. One could
just shout An eye for an eye! As Mark Costanzo concedes, even the often misinterpreted
'eye for an eye' passage in the bible was meant to restrain rather than require
vengeance. (592) But that is not how our judicial system works, although it would be
fair. Still there are others, like Bradley O'Leary who implies that the
punishment...should fit the crime, not the age of the violent offender. As a society, we
cannot show any sympathy for, or excuses from, the youth thugs...who are destroying our
schools and neighborhoods. (590) These boys will be punished, as they should be, but
their judge has an opportunity to change their lives forever. If I were the judge in this
case, I would make those boys work in the fields with the Hispanic migrants for at least
a year or two, possibly longer. The boys would not be earning money, they would have to
work off cost of hospital bills and court costs that their actions caused. They also
would have to be watched over as they work so as not to let them alone with anyone where
they might possibly cause harm to anyone else. This in turn could maybe build a bridge
and teach the boys that Hispanics are just like every one else, and that hate is not the
answer to anything. 
I believe that these boys should be made to feel the repercussions of what they did and
how that affects the lives of those who they did it to. In no way should they be let to
live a normal life, because everyone should know of what violence can cause, so that
these kind of things do not happen in the future. Only then can we say that we are safe.
Only when our children are behaving the way good boys and girls should be.
Bibliography
Costanzo, Mark. Elements of Argument. Just Revenge. Boston. Bedford/St. Martin's.
2000. 592-601.
Garcetti, Gil. Elements of Argument. Distinguishing Between Felons and Truants.
Boston. Bedford/St. Martin's. 2000. 588-590.
O'Leary, Bradley. Elements of Argument. Justice for Young Criminals: Emphasize
Punishment. Boston. Bedford/St. Martin's. 2000. 590-591.
Twitchell, James B. Elements of Argument. The Law and Shame. Boston. Bedford/St.
Martin's. 2000. 606-613.
Bibliography
Bad argument paper for English class about Punishment and a case involving California
teens who committed a crime. Heavy use of book - Elements Of Argument - for
Bibliography(we were supposed to). I got a C.