In your opinion, at what age should a child be held accountable for delinquent acts? Discuss why you have determined this to be fair and discuss what factors you have considered in formulating your opinion
What will be an ideal response?
• The goal of this question is to provoke the student into considering whether there is any bright line rule; i.e., specific age; when a child should be held accountable. Some may follow the common law scheme; others may choose a specific age. It is possible some students will decide on different ages for different offenses.
• The most astute student will discuss developmental factors and intellectual capacity. For example, what about a system where every juvenile offender is evaluated by an inter-disciplinary team and given a "score" regarding ability to form criminal intent, sophistication, intellectual disability, mental illness, etc.? Perhaps this would be too costly or too subjective, but perhaps it would be more accurate.
• A totally different approach may be to decriminalize most juvenile offense and focus more on services and rehabilitation. Only the most severe offenses would be exempted and treated as juvenile crime. This question is an opportunity for creative ideas to emerge from thoughtful students, rather than just coming up with a fair age of accountability.
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What will be an ideal response?