Emily Tulanowski

English IV
Ms. O’Keefe
January 28th, 2018
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjPf2HVgzKc
Children

“Child-at-heart” or “Kid-at-heart” are common phrases heard frequently in English

language, but what is a child? According to the Oxford Dictionary, a child is, “A young human

being below the age of puberty or below the legal age of majority.” In literal terms, a child is a

human under the age of eighteen. When we think of a child, we think about their physical and

mental characteristics; some characteristics associated with youth are playful and carefree nature,

much energy, laughter, smaller size, and happiness. The time of childhood makes up about a

fourth of one's’ lifetime.

The definition of a child may be examined under the literal lense. One application of this

is in the case that many people under the age of eighteen are tried as adults in court. For

example, why do many sixteen-year-olds who commit crimes become penalized as adults? If

these youngsters are below the age of eighteen, why are they considered fully mentally and

physically developed? Some would argue that it is not just to consider these kids as full adults in

this sense.

There is also the nuances of age group and also mental development to consider in these cases.

For instance, the court would examine a 10-year-old differently than they would a 16-year-old.

There are a few factors that are involved in these cases, such as the court system and

decision-making.
 In the year 2017, in the state of Wisconsin, two girls of the age of thirteen were tried as

adults in court for attempted murder. According to Huffington Post, ​Two 13-Year-Old Girls

Are Being Tried As Adults. Here’s Why That Matters.​, “Waukesha County Circuit Judge

Michael Bohren said Monday that defense lawyers “failed to convince him” the cases should be

moved, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.” Wisconsin law states that minors above

the age of ten with the crime of homicide or attempted homicide are tried as adults. The decision

to consider the thirteen-year-old girls as adults was put into consideration, and this was put to

test while looking at the Wisconsin jurisdiction that juveniles under sixteen may have the

opportunity to be tried in juvenile court. But, defense lawyers must request this, and the Judge

must approve it. In this case, the Waukesha County Circuit Judge did not allow the girls the pass;

in result they became automatically tried in adult court. In the situation that a child is tried and

convicted as a juvenile, they receive mental treatment and are released at the age of eighteen.

These girls had the intent of killing their classmate in order to please a fictional horror character.

In conclusion, these girls were ultimately found not guilty because of mental reasons; one of the

girls was sent to 25 years in a mental institute.

There is much debate on issue of charging children as adults. On one side of the issue,

there are negative consequences to imprisoning children as adults. The more ethical option

would to send children who commit crimes to correctional lessons or therapy to help them to

become well-rounded adults.

The way children process information and think is different than older individuals- it is

the way that we view the children that impacts their lives. It is important that we nourish

children’s minds, so that our world can become more healthy and informed.
 A case from a previous generation should be examined. There is cases where mentally,

emotionally, or physically abused children target their parents. The Menendez Brothers case is a

famous case in the 90’s that was tried two times. On August 20, 1989 brothers Lyle and Eric

Menendez murdered their parents in their Beverly Hills mansion. The defense attorneys, Leslie

Abramson and Jill Lansing, advocated for their clients thoroughly and based her arguments on

the sole purpose of ​why ​and what lead the youngsters to kill their wealthy parents. Considering

this would be the strength of their work. During the trials, the young men were referred to as

“children” or “boys” by the defense, although they were aged twenty-one and eighteen at the

time of the crime. The two lawyers were criticized by the prosecutors and the media for calling

Lyle and Eric by these terms. This is because those against the Menendez case did not want them

to be looked at as children, because they were legal and fully grown adults. Opposers also

thought that Abramson was behaving too extravagantly, as this was part of her personality. In

addition, they believed that she could have been trying to ‘“trick” or possibly use the power of

the words “child” or “boys” to change the minds of the jury and audience. Leslie Abramson was

very endearing and liked to look at Lyle and Eric as her children. The men’s lawyer also liked to

have them dress in casual, but nice, sweaters instead of suits to court in order to make them

appear more youthful.

This highly publicized case and televised trial lead the public to form opinions. The

defense evidence showed that Lyle and Eric Menendez encountered sexual and mental abuse

during their whole lives from their father. Eric begun to be molested at the age of six, throughout

his entire childhood until the age of seventeen and eighteen.The two defendants testified, with

both of them recounting horrid details of their lifelong abuse as children. Their strong emotional
reactions could have not been faked. Eric, the younger of the brothers, was targeted more by

their father, and their mother did nothing to stop these situations. Their lawyers argued that the

brothers had no sense of stability, and years of trauma has lead to the real but irrational fear that

their parents were going to kill them. The young men became afraid because of the belief that

they could never run away. They were in a dead-end situation and did not know better. They

were made to believe that if they ran away with their father’s secret of sexual abuse and told

others, their father would kill them. If the two stayed at home, they thought the abuse would

never end. Abramson and Lansing also used emotion to convince the jury, and that the brothers’

age was a large factor in the crime. There was much evidence for this, including the testimonies

of many family members, explicit pictures, and more. Although the harm against Lyle and Eric

Menendez was perpetrated during childhood, the crime that the men committed took place while

they were adults. The prosecutors argued that the crime was committed for desire of inheritance

and greed. This case ended in a hung jury, which lead the case to be retried that ended in 1996.

The bulk of the defense evidence was blocked from the jury in the second case. As a result, the

prosecution won, because the judge was biased and did not allow this evidence any longer. Both

brothers were sentenced to life in prison without parole.

As children, Lyle’s and Eric’s minds were molded to believe that there was no way out of

their pain. The brothers were children when they endured the violence. Maybe one might say that

they could have not thought through the moments right before the crime. Maybe they did not

have the judgement of a full adult to understand.

There is many meanings to the word “child.” There is not only one lens to look through

when it comes to looking at a person. As one gets older, he or she learns and grows, and learns
lessons that create morals. We learn from mistakes. We learn right from wrong. There might not

a right age to define a child. Everybody grows and becomes wiser with age.

Works Cited

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/slenderman-youth-adults-prison-wisconsin_us_55

cbc70ce4b0cacb8d32ee35

http://www.genfkd.org/juveniles-tried-adults-happens-children-go-prison

https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/what-child

https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/child

● Menendez Brothers information from watching 8-part documentary on NBC on

television: “Law and Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders.” I also watched

movies on this. I did not look anything up about this topic because I remember all

the information from my own research in the past.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjPf2HVgzKc