# What should happen to this boy? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 10, 2008, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-happen-to-this-boy/471980 "2008-11-10T03:07:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-happen-to-this-boy/471980/21 "2008-11-10T18:23:50Z")
> [@KGS](#): > > The [Jewish Kibbutz](http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Society_&_Culture/kibbutz.html) is a decent starting point… > > Basically, humanity started as a _tribal_ society – an extended family of aunts, uncles, grandparents, and other distant relatives all working together to provide food for the Tribe and raise the children. Modern “extended” families continue this thread, and people with deeply-connected roots to their _extended_ family (especially Italian & Mexican immigrants) have a much greater chance of success than the so-called “nuclear” family. > > I’m not saying the “nuclear” family is 100% bad – if the child is lucky to have two healthy parents (or even one), that’s good enough. Problem is, if one or both of those parents are extremely defective, and you must admit that some parents ARE extremely defective…it doesn’t bode well for the child at all. Get my drift? I’m with you as far as extended family & to some extent the community at large. However, I do draw the line at collectivizing the raising of children. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-happen-to-this-boy/471980/22 "2008-11-10T18:48:21Z")
> [@KGS](#): > > The [Jewish Kibbutz](http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Society_&_Culture/kibbutz.html) is a decent starting point… But most of the kibbutzim have stopped raising children communally (that article mentions that). Kibbutz people look at you funny if you ask them if their children live in children’s houses, or at least the ones on the kibbutz I went to visit when I was in Israel last winter did. The people who have actually tried it don’t seem to want to see it carried on. ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-happen-to-this-boy/471980/23 "2008-11-10T19:10:04Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > I don’t know at all for sure, but convicting him as an adult might give the courts more options and control than just sticking him in juvie 'til he’s 18, then turning him loose. Excellent point. I just watched a documentary on [Eric Smith](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Smith_(murderer)), the 13-year-old who murdered a 4yo boy. He’s 23 now, and eligible for parole, and the documentary featured a woman who had taken up the cause (a Rescuer?) to get him released back into society. When they interviewed the adult Eric, though, I definitely had the gut feeling that he should NOT be released. Something about his cold demeanor really bugged me. (His parole was denied.) > [@](#): > > I think the kid’s young life is fucked no matter what though. Even if there was abuse and the kid gets a nice, healthy, loving foster family, he still shot his dad and another guy. That’s the problem – society will never forgive this boy for what he did. And sadly, that’s how our judicial system works – imprisonment & other measures (such as Megan’s Law) are there not to rehabilitate the criminal, but to satisfy our own personal needs for bloodlust and revenge. So yeah, this kid’s life is totally fucked no matter what happens. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-happen-to-this-boy/471980/24 "2008-11-10T19:55:33Z")
Under no circumstances should this child be tried as an adult. I think it’s ridiculous that the police have even suggested it, and I hope the DA refuses to follow their advice. But there should be some form of intervention to determine if the child poses a further danger to himself or others. If the child shows some form of mental illness, then he needs to be treated in a medical institution until he cured. If the child is not mentally ill, then either he had a compelling reason to shoot his father or he is not the shooter and confessed under the pressure of the interrogation. Either way, he’s going to need some serious counseling to get through this. ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-happen-to-this-boy/471980/25 "2008-11-10T20:16:54Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > If you try an 8 year old as an adult, then the distinction between child and adult is meaningless. Unless you’re a 17 year old girl seeking an abortion, in which case it’s critical. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-happen-to-this-boy/471980/26 "2008-11-10T20:45:56Z")
> [@KGS](#): > > That’s the problem – society will never forgive this boy for what he did. And sadly, that’s how our judicial system works – imprisonment & other measures (such as Megan’s Law) are there not to rehabilitate the criminal, but to satisfy our own personal needs for bloodlust and revenge. So yeah, this kid’s life is totally fucked no matter what happens. ☹ True, but… that’s not really what I meant. Society could probably forget about the kid, and his juvenile records sealed. What sucks for the kid is he killed his dad. The kid is never going to get over that, even if it turns out he was somehow justified. It appears he hunted down two people, instead of running for help. He’ll have to live with that forever. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-happen-to-this-boy/471980/27 "2008-11-10T20:59:05Z")
One thing that should be pointed out, is that as far as rehabilitation goes, ten years for an eight year old is not like ten years for a 28 year old. These are highly formative years. Given the right situation, and assuming there isn’t something wrong with the kid’s brain, he has more of a shot at changing his stripes than an adult. I don’t know what the answer is in the this particular case, but trying an eight year old as an adult seems to ignore the very real differences that separate the two classifications. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-happen-to-this-boy/471980.md?page=1)