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Brian Nguyen

Allison Frederick

Period 4 ERWC

14 February 2017

Rehab
On Feb. 27, 1993, Greg Ousley, walked into his parents room armed with a

shotgun, shot his dad in the head while he was in bed, then shot his mother when she

attempted to call the police. We all did something in our youth where we question it

today. But nothing to the magnitude of killing someone or your family. The Juvenile

Justice system give life sentences to juveniles who get tried as adults for violent crimes

they have committed, who would not be able to receive the proper help they need, but is

that person worth putting the time and money into.

Ousley only fourteen at the time of his sentencing received life in prison without
parole. Although under the eighth amendment that putting juveniles in life sentences is
illegal. Nathaniel Brazill fourteen at the time killed his one of his favorite teachers.
Charged with second degree murder, they asked him why he did it in court, he didnt
have an answer and seemed dazed during the trial. The reasoning behind Brazills
irrational behavior, lies in the brain of juveniles. But what really caught our eye was a
massive loss of brain tissue that occurs in the teenage years. (Thompson para 7) The
brain issue that is lost in the frontal lobe controls thinking, emotion, impulses, and self-
control, in the maelstrom of hormones and high school Brazill snapped almost as if he
was a twig in a tornado. Gray matter, which brain researchers believe supports all our
thinking and emotions, is purged at a rate of 1 percent to 2 percent a year during this
period.. The constant deconstruction and reconstruction of the brain causes people to
act out irrationally much like Ousley and Brazill.

So the solution of course to this problem seems easy. Of course stop trying

juveniles as adults. Then set up a program that prevent certain people from being
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rehabilitated. Then you put them in the rehabilitation program. The reason there is a

program to filter people from allowing them to get help, is to see if that person should

really get the help. The sentence should be fifteen to twenty five years in incarceration

with parole. On top of behaving well while incarcerated, they will undergo psychological

evaluations to see if they are mentally unstable or unfit for society. While undergoing

evaluation they will attempt to help the person. These sessions will go on for six months

to a year and will determine if they will continue to get the help. As they carry out the

rest of their sentence they will undergo rehabilitation. In the eyes of the public juveniles

who commit these crimes should be locked away, dont realize that they could change.

As a former juvenile court judge, I have seen firsthand the enormous capacity of

children to change and turn themselves around. The same malleability that makes them

vulnerable to peer pressure also makes them promising candidates for rehabilitation

(Garinger para. 8)

When juveniles commit murder they will most likely be tried as adults. The

juveniles brain is underdeveloped so it causes juveniles to lash out irrationally. With

peer pressure and rough upbringings contribute in creating this broken individual that

will stop someones heart over something so small. Many juveniles who commit the

crime deeply regret committing it. So they will spend the rest of their life in six by eight

cell knowing that they threw away their life after a mistake. The solution in question now

will help juveniles that so desperately need that help. But believing that their isnt

anybody worthy of being locked away for life is naive.

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Instead of sending the person straight to rehabilitation, you need to filter the ones

that are already lost, the ones that went off in the deep end. You may say that youre not

giving everyone a chance. But listen certain individuals are lost. An example, a boy

shooting his teacher. Why? Because the teacher stopped him from harassing some

girls. Authorities talked to the boy and asked him why he did it. His answer was he didnt

know. We all went through this phase of I dont know why., but we didnt kill anybody.

The psychological evaluation separates the Ousleys from the girls who poison their

families. Certain people are lost and they need to be left in a cell to die.

Say what you will about the effectiveness of the juvenile justice system is just as

effective as a lifeguard at swimming event of the olympics. If you knew nothing about

the system you would think that its normal to charge juveniles who are loose cannons

as adults. They need to serve the time for what they committed. The future Ted Bundy

slips through the cracks and gets out of jail and continue their lives and kill the

occasional and unfortunate person that crosses paths with them. That is why the

mandatory evaluations to see if they could be fixed. If they can fixed then they served

the time and go through rehab, maybe write a letter to the victims family and be model

prisoner. If they cant be fix then you know why they died in a mysterious death from a

shaking in an area where the camera cant see them. But with seriousness there are

certain individuals that need to stay in a room of concrete and steel bars till their final

day on this planet comes.

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Works Cited
Thompson, Paul, Startling Finds on Teenage Brains, Sacramento Bee, 2001. Print.

Garinger, Gail, Juveniles Dont Deserve Life Sentences, New York Times, 2012. Print.