What do you think of 12 and under NOT being punished for their crimes?

Question

In Winnepeg Manitoba last week, some kids under 12 and over 8 locked a handicapped boy into a shed and set it on fire!!!
The law says they cant be charged because they are under 12!!!!

Answer 1

what is wrong with kids today my dad-mom would kicked my butt the legal system should hold kids accountable for actions they know right and wrong by that age the systems screwed up in the usa and in ca apprently my brother attacked my mom once and he was like 16-17 and she had him tossed in jail for like 2 weeks before my neighbor bail'ed him out . i have a 5 year old and i spank her if the crime qualifys just like i did when i was young and graduated to the leather belt as well thats what kids are missing now a good butt crack from a whizzing leather belt

Answer 2

Hi Sandra K,
LQQk I think they should all go to a juvenile center until there are 18 years & be made to read about their actions, everyday until they understand exactly what they have done. By then maybe they'll have LEARNED about the life of the handicap boy they took just because he was different, not to mention his Mother, other relatives. Their alive, when they get out, there lives will go on, but the handicapped boy will always be just that!
It's a damn shame the courts don't hold parents responsible for the action of their own children. Sorry you didn't say weather the handicapped boy lived or died, so I am assume not especially since he was locked in. Who else is going to teach those boys anything if they are not charged?

Answer 3

In a lot of places the law states that a child 12 years old and younger can not sufficiently understand the difference between right and wrong and therefore can not be charged with a crime. I don't agree with it but the law is there.
I blame it on the violence shown on TV and in the movies and the media who sensationalize crime to the point where people look at the news and say wow I want to do that too! Like all the school violence that is happening.

Answer 4

I think that's sick and wrong. From a very early age, we all generally know that locking a handicapped person in a shed and setting it on fire is immoral, at the very least.

By not prosecuting, or even charging these kids, the government is turning a blind eye to children who need psychiatric help. Sadly, once they grow up, they'll probably hurt more people, because they never got the help they needed as youths.

Answer 5

What happened to the boy?!!

Did he survive that?!!

Those children are future serial killers, mark my words.
The law is messed up.
Children are just as capable as adults to commit a crime.
You'd think by now the laws would reflect that knowledge, yet most people want to believe that all children are innocent.

Well, they're not.
I think the youngest serial killer ever documented was 10 (a girl, no less!) and then look at what happened with that poor child Jamie Bulger - in England back in 1993.
The 2 boys who abducted and killed him were 10 years old too, I think!!

At least there they went to jail!
(Only 8 years, definately not enough but it's better than we can say here in the United States.)

Criminals are not MADE.
They are born that way and if it is a child who commited the crime, it is the child who should be punished for it.

Answer 6

It is unconstitutional to send a minor to prison.

At age 12 the parents are responsible for the behaviour of their children.

it is disgusting that the USA actually executes kids who commit a crime under the age of 18. They just wait til they are over 18 or 21.

No other civilised western country has the death penalty let alone the death penalty for children who are under 18 when the crime was committed

Answer 7

In the US, A social worker removed a child from her mother because the mother was dating an armed robber. The social worker adopted the child but the child was found dead from a broken skull. The child was wrapped in duct tape with her mouth shut. The social worker was prosecuted but received a light sentence.

Where are the social workers to deal with those kids in Canada? Police tell me that without the telephone, they would have nothing to do. I'm cynical against police and social workers and I'm not for violence - but I would go to jail if I acted on those kids and saved the disabled boy from the fire.

This whole question could be a joke or a point-gaming scheme - I'm that cynical....

http://www.fightcps.com/2004/08/maine-social-worker-who-killed-foster.html

Answer 8

The bigger question is how did the parents not be able to recognize this. Many people believe technology is to blame for this. I agree. It does not matter what the situation, the more technology helps us, the more it hurts us...TV for example. All of the violence advertised in order to make money. The NFL continually supports violent video games with "Gangsta" themes, but refuses to allow ANY advertising that MENTIONS Las Vegas. Las Vegas is more than just gambling, the NFL, however, refuses to accept it and thus promotes violence instead

Answer 9

I think that a society that didnt punish everyone that committed a crime is a society destined to fail. You cant have government without laws. Lack of laws leads to anarchy. Kids may not have a perfect grasp of reality or laws, but they generally understand the concepts of life and death, right and wrong.

Answer 10

I say punish the kids regardless of age and punish the parents as well! We have got to get it through out heads that when we don't punish our children when they are young they will grow up to be extremely irresponsible and dangerous adults!