In 1899, the United States established a Juvenile Justice Court System, which at the time convicted youth as adults. 120 years later, the United States as evolved its Juvenile Justice System to ensure that youth offenders are held accountable for their actions without the use of adult court punishments. Based on their age difference, teen offenders aren’t like adult offenders, and therefore the use of the Juvenile Justice System for teens is more effective than adult court. Based on this information, teens should be held accountable for their crimes through the Juvenile Justice System, not adult court. First, juvenile justice has more focus toward rehabilitation which adult court does not provide. Next, juvenile justice reduces recidivism in teens. Finally, juvenile justice helps teens have a successful integration back into the community, whereas adult court causes mental and physical harm to the juvenile offenders. Overall the use of the Juvenile Justice System helps teens become better people and establish a more productive role in the community after they have gone through their rehabilitation or reintegration. Adult court just throws away the life of the juvenile offender.

First, the juvenile justice’s main goal is to aid the rehabilitation and reformation of teen offenders by providing them with extra help not given by adult court. The main difference between adult court and youth court is the adult’s willingness to help the youth. An article from Southern Poverty Law Center says, ‘“In adult court, they want to lock us up,’ Sander A., a Florida youth, told Human Rights Watch for a recent report. ‘In juvenile court they want to help us make better choices,”’ (“Southern Poverty Law Center”). In this quote, convicted youth Sander inform the reader about the difference between adult court and juvenile court. His firsthand account of this issue highlights the idea that adult courts don’t care about the teens who get convicted through them. In the juvenile justice system, they work to help the youth become better people and learn from their mistakes. Furthermore, the juvenile justice system’s efforts to rehabilitate their teen criminals is beneficial to the youth because the system cares about the teens getting a second chance and reforming their actions. Since teen brains are underdeveloped and susceptible to outside influence, they cannot be held to the same standards as adults. An article from the Developmental Approach to Juvenile Justice Reform states the following, “Adolescents are less able to regulate their own behavior in emotionally charged contexts. Adolescents are more sensitive to external influences such as the presence of peers and the intimacy of rewards. Adolescents are less able to make informed decisions that require consideration of the long-term consequences,” (“Robert F Kennedy National Resource Center for Juvenile Justice”). In this quote, the National Research Council gives three ways in which teens differ from adults. The first way shows that teenage brains are severely underdeveloped in comparison to fully grown adults. The second way says teens make bad decisions when they are influenced by peers. The last way says teens don’t think long term when they make decisions. Since teens are unable to control their own behavior during highly emotional times, they shouldn’t be set to the same standards as adults who make the same decisions. Moreover, teens brains can be reformed after they make bad decisions because they weren't fully developed during the time of the crime.  The juvenile justice system works to develop and reform the minds of the teenage offenders. Under the juvenile justice system, teens are exposed to different rehabilitation opportunities which help them become better people after their punishment. An article from the Juvenile Law Center (JLC) says, “Youth are entitled to educational programming while incarcerated. Educational and therapeutic programming may be provided in the child’s community or the child may be placed out of the home in a residential treatment program and ordered to attend school on-grounds,” (“JLC”). This quote is informative because it provides evidence about educating incarcerated teens. Teens are entitled to an education, and through the juvenile justice system teens get one. Education helps to reform and rehabilitate youth offenders by showing them there is life after incarceration. Furthermore, teens deserve a chance to get an education to fix the mistakes they made in the past and try to stop them from happening again. Through the juvenile justice system, teens are given reformation and rehabilitation which allows them to learn from their mistakes while they are being punished.

Next, the juvenile justice system is effective because it reduces recidivism in teens, adult court increases recidivism. When teens are transferred to adult courts, the chance of them recidivating again is increased. In a story from Alternatives to Prisons, Richard A. Mendel says, “In study after study, juvenile offenders who are transferred to criminal court recidivate more often, more quickly, and with more serious offenses than those who are retained under juvenile jurisdiction. In Minnesota, 58 percent of transferred youth committed an additional crime within two years versus 42 percent of youth retained in juvenile court,” (Skancke, 37). In this quote, the reader gets information regarding the number of juveniles who engage in criminal activity after being transferred to adult court compared to those who are retained in juvenile court. This evidence reveals juveniles tend to reoffend with harsher crimes after they are transferred to adult court. If the judicial system transfers teens to adult court, they will more than likely commit another crime. So, teens should therefore be held accountable for their actions through the juvenile justice system, not adult court. When teens are sent to adult prison through adult court, the chance of them reducing recidivism is greatly decreased. “‘They really get lost in the system,’ said Michelle Stephens, whose son was prosecuted as an adult and incarcerated in Florida five years ago after accepting a plea agreement. ‘And all their inmate peers become their family. They join gangs in prison. They’re worse off than they were before they went in prison, now you’ve just put them with hardened, lifetime criminals,”’ (“Southern Poverty Law Center”). This excerpt from the Southern Poverty Law Center is a firsthand account from the mother of a teen convicted through adult court. When teens are convicted through an adult court, they are more likely to meet people who will change their behavior. Adult court increases the chances of recidivism in teens when they are exposed to real adult criminals. Because of this, teens shouldn’t be placed in adult prisons as they will have a greater chance of doing more criminal activities in adult prison. The juvenile justice system works to reduce recidivism in teens after they have done their rehabilitation.

Finally, adult court causes teens to have mental and physical distress after their sentence, whereas the juvenile justice system works to create an easy transition back into the community. The juvenile justice system works to create accountability without criminalization in teen offenders. In an article from the novel Reforming Juvenile Justice: A Developmental Approach, author Richard Bonnie says, “Adolescents need opportunities to accept responsibility for their actions and, where appropriate, to make amends to affected individuals and communities. However, given that adolescence is a transient period, when youth are involved in the justice system, measures should be taken to fully preserve the youth’s opportunities for successful integration into adult life,” (“Developmental Approach to Juvenile Justice Reform”). This evidence defends the claim teens should be given opportunities to change from their mistakes and reintegrate themselves into the community. When teens are held accountable for their actions, they are more likely to be a better citizen from it. For them to successfully reintegrate into life and learn from their mistakes they must be given juvenile justice. When in adult prison, teens witness terrible circumstances that destroy their integration back into their community. The Southern Poverty Law Center says, “During their time in adult lock-ups, prisoners such as Patrick often witness brutal inmate-on-inmate violence. And they are more likely to be victimized sexually,” (“Southern Poverty Law Center”). This evidence informs the reader of the horrors teens witness in the adult prison system. When teens witness these terrible actions, they are more likely to have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This shows that adult court will cause teens to be set back when they come back to their lives after prison. The juvenile justice system works to prevent teens witnessing or being susceptible to the violence and sexual assault that happens in adult prison. When teens are sent to adult court, they witness terrible actions which could be prevented by sending teens to the juvenile justice system.

Some may argue if teens do an adult crime they should be sent to an adult court. The opposing view might say that no matter how old you are, if you do a terrible crime there is no saving the soul of the criminal. While some do believe this, ultimately it is far from accurate. Since teens are more susceptible to crime based on their lacking mental capacity, they therefore don’t have as much control over their actions as adults do. Because of this fact, teens can be rehabilitated into learning from their actions and becoming better people from their mistakes.

To conclude, the juvenile justice system is a system in the United States that works to help teens learn from their crimes without ruining the person they could grow into. Since teens are younger than adults, they shouldn’t be held to the same standards in the judicial system. Since teens aren't fully developed, the juvenile justice system can work with them to help them become better people in society. The juvenile justice system works to rehabilitate youth offenders, reduce recidivism and protect juvenile criminals from the horrors of adult prison. Through the system, teens can learn from their mistakes while becoming better people in the process. In this world, teens are called childish and immature by the same adults that think teens should be set to the same standards as adults in the judicial system. If adults consider teens to be children and not fully adults, then why would we send them to an adult prison that throws away the life of the child? When we can save the life of a teen who has made a stupid mistake, shouldn’t we? Shouldn’t we at least try to save the soul of the teen to create a responsible future adult?