Teenage Responsibility

There is an article on the front page of the New York Times today that is painful to read. Mainly because it reflects one of the most unfourtunate trends in our Country: a growing lack of responsibility. Specifically, this article deals with life sentences for teenagers. We are told of the 2,200 people serving sentences of life without parole for crimes commited as minors. The article points out that only 4 other countries in the world have people serving similar sentences. And of course it points to the recent Supreme Court decision in Roper vs. Simmons that abolished the Death Penalty for minors.

Most of the article's pitty is spent on Ms. Rebecca Falon who is serving her sentence for participating in a murder at the age of 15. She "faults her choice of friends" for what she has done. But what the Times tries so desperately to ignore is the actual crime itself: murder. As The young girl indicated she made a 'choice' and is now suffering the consequences. Murder is a terrible thing, and perhaps the crime most deserving of its punishment. Criminals, regardless of their age, must be held responsible for their actions. That's why we have laws in the first place, so that people can't go around harming others without fear of consequences.

Many say teenagers are absolved from this responsibility because they are so young and can so easily be impressed or molded into following a certain criminal ideology. All the more reason to punish them as strictly as everyone else. If we let them know that they will be held every bit as responsible for murder as a 45 year old, then maybe they will understand the reprecussions of certain 'choices' they face in their young lives a bit better.

Some may say that teenagers have their whole lives ahead, and should be allowed to attone for, or 'come clean', about murders they commit. They just need a little time to think about their crime, and then once we have taught them a lesson they can re-intigrate into society and go make better choices. But what about the innocent victim who no longer has the capacity to make choices or attone for anything, because he or she is dead? Why should teenagers be held to lesser standards than adults? The punishment should fit the crime, even if you feel you have made amends in less time than the punishment requires.

And ultimately, as I said, this comes down to responsibility. Americans today are less willing, not only to take responsibility for their own actions, but to force others to take responsibility for their's. However, even the naivete of youth does not excuse one from responsibility for one's actions. This much should be clear.

Jean Paul Sartre once wrote that "Hell is other people," and part of what he meant by this is the fact that others serve as a constant reminder not only to one's actions, but to the responsibility one has for those actions. And this reminder is hell; because we so often would love to simply ignore our deeds and not have to claim them as our own. But we must. And we especially must in the case of henious crimes such as murder. Because the Rights to "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness" cannot belong to someone who differs the responsibility of those Rights to someone else.