When you think of criminals, you usually imagine adults, right? Not only can adults be criminals, but many children are as well. In the United States alone, approximately 1.5 million children under the age of 18 are arrested each year. Juvenile delinquency peaked in 1996 with approximately 8,500 arrests per 100,000 young people aged 10 to 17. Some consequences for these juveniles are one-year prison sentences, life sentences, and sometimes even the death penalty, depending on the crime committed. The juvenile justice system is a system of juvenile courts that attempts to find an alternative to adult courts and prisons, such as rehabilitation that aims to improve the offender's life and prevent re-incarceration. Children are not treated differently from adults in a trial, but the question is whether an offender under the age of 18 should be treated the same as an offender 18 or older. There are many reasons why offenders under the age of eighteen should not be treated the same as an offender aged 18 or older. One of these reasons is that the brain of a person under the age of 18 is not fully developed compared to that of an adult. Studies show that the brain has not finished maturing when we are under 18 and that the 10-20 age group is considered a time of change in life, so judgment and reasoning are not not fully developed. Brain studies have shown that the frontal lobe is the one responsible for good decision-making and impulsive control. It has been proven that the frontal lobe of your brain is not fully developed until the age of 25. This means, for example, that the decision-making process of...... middle of paper ...... gives them a positive influence and helps change the individual. Studies show that trying children in adult courts increases rearrest rates and the likelihood that future crimes will be even worse. For example, New York juveniles tried in adult courts were rearrested more often than those in New Jersey juvenile courts who initially committed the exact same crime. (Editorial board, Syacuse.com) Another reason is that placing children in rehabilitation is more financially beneficial. Placing a child in rehabilitation is eight times more affordable than the cost of placing them in prison and providing care. Money used to place a child in prison is money that could be used to rehabilitate the child to help them turn their life around and prevent future problems. So not only does the child get help, but it also saves the government money..