Why dont minors have the same constitional rights as adults?

Answer 1

Because our government / society has decided that children do not have the intelligence, life experience or maturity to take on all the rights and responsibilities that come with being an adult.

Answer 2

If you're young, this answer may likely offend you a little. First, because until you are an adult, an adult is responsible for everything you do (barring emancipation). Until a person has reached the age of maturity, they cannot be held accountable for their own actions, and therefore should not have the same constitutional rights as adults (its the whole responsibility = rights / life experience = responsibility thing), and though the age of maturity is subject to some discussion, there cannot be a sliding scale, so generally, in the past it was considered 18 as a generalized rule.

Of course, that depends on which rights you're discussing too, some really are considered inalienable.

Answer 3

it depends on which rights you are referring to. first, everyone has some rights, but not all since along with the right, there is the responsibility when execising it.
for example, until the mid seventies, the right to an attorney was not given to anyone under the age of 15. a supreme court decision changed that when a minor was convicted and was never allowed to have an attorney in court to represent him. a poor person, an adult, had no right to cousel if he could not afford one. that also changed when a florida man was convicted of robbery but was not given any legal cousel when he went to trial and he had no more than a grade school educatiomn. he wrote a letter to the supreme court and within two years, hje had won and his conviction was overturned. since then, anyone accused of a crime has the right to an attorney, even when he has no money.
another idea is about the right to vote. for many southern men, black and whiote, the ability to vote was not allowed if they didn't pay for it. it was called a poll tax. the supreme court stated that a poll tax was nothing less than an attempt to prevent ppeople who should be allowed the vote, the ability to vote.
few, if any rights for people are taken away, except for the right to have weapons, and to vote when convicted of a felony.
there is a push, however to allow the felony conviction not be allowed to deny the person a right to vote and it may wind up in the supreme court.
as for ownership of weapons, it is not a right, but a need for a well armed militia which keeps it intact. there are limits to all rights under the consttution, including speech, gathering to meet for political redress of the government actions, etc. it is the supreme court which ensures these rights, but it is the federal government which seeks to curtail some and sometimes they prevail, while at other times they don't. it is the court which decides on what is and isn't in line with the constitution, and not the congress or the president.

Answer 4

Minors and adults have different rights because,adults are old enough to be responsible for their own actions and old enough to make the right decisions. Adults are responsible for minors so therefore,they when a wrong decision is made they can have a fair punishment or a fair explanation. The majority of minors are immature and silly so the law is not required to set the same rights for adults and minors because someone has to make the right decision!

Answer 5

The most obvious reason for this is age, or maturity. A four-year-old, or even a ten-year-old, cannot make the same sorts of decisions that an adult can make. An adult might be perfectly free to wander the streets at night, but a child seen wandering the streets at night would be taken into some sort of protective custody, even against his will.

Many violations of student rights are upheld by the courts. One of the most basic reasons is known as "in loco parentis." This phrase means that while a student is in the custody of a school, the school can and should act as a parent. This only applies to public school. Private schools have the power to set their limits arbitrarily without restrictions.

But students do have some rights that have been upheld by courts. They cannot be forced to salute the flag, and do have rights of free speech as long as it doesn't "involve substantial disorder or invasion of the rights of others" according to the Supreme Court.

Answer 6

They do have the same rights. There are just different LAWS that apply to minors vs. adults.

Answer 7

Minors have the same rights, they just have some limitations. You will understand it better as you get older.

Answer 8

Minors do not have the capacity to act on their own due to young age. Thus, they have limited constitutional rights.

Answer 9

Which rights don't you feel you have as a minor, that adults do have?

Answer 10

Because most minors would do very bad things with that much of power.