Do you think children who commit SERIOUS offences should be given adult sentences?

If you are 10 years old and commit murder, then yes you should.

If you are 10 years old and commit murder, then yes you should.

On what basis is that judgement justified?

It's necessary to consider not only the circumstances of a crime, but also the mental capacity and reasoning in committing the offence of the offender.
Children, by nature are less developed cognitively than adults, so why would a Court not take this into consideration when sentencing a child in comparison to an adult for a serious offence?

Hi.

Yes, to me I feel like the strongest 'for' argument is to give justice to the victim's family (if there is a victim - I'm talking murder).

However, I definitely feel that the child's mental capacity does need to be taken into account. Not only this, but I worry that adult sentences may be counterproductive for children. Surely they'll be made to feel like outsiders from a young age. Perhaps this is enough to prevent the child from proper social integration; maybe it will cause them to 'live up' to how they perceive by themselves and by other people - as a criminal.

I've actually written my first blog post on this, but am not going to link it here because I'm genuinely interested in this discussion. If anyone does want to read it though I've put it in the 'about me' section of my profile.

Hey there,

That's certainly an interesting argument to make. I absolutely agree with you on the point that an adult's sentence seems somewhat inappropriate upon application to a child offender.

Children, by nature, are more impressionable and less mentally developed than adults, and thus there's a much higher risk of a child becoming 'institutionalised' by a 'serious' sentencing.
As you stated, the impression and way that a child would in turn view themselves following a severe sentencing could only worsen their current mental state, consequently hindering their development and coming to terms with what they have done.

The best way to treat any criminal, albeit a child offender is to look at rehabilitation programmes so as to root the problem out in the first place.

It's certainly a difficult one to call, as the context of the crime must be taken into account, as well as the Child's age and subsequent capacity to reason what is right and wrong.
However, I find it difficult to find justification in sentencing a child in the same way as an adult, as it would only ensure that they stay an offender, and 'criminal' as a result.