# When should children be tried as adults?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-should-children-be-tried-as-adults/16696>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [August 27, 1999, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-should-children-be-tried-as-adults/16696 "1999-08-27T19:04:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![Jen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecae2f/32.png) [@Jen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jen)\
**Post date:** [September 1, 1999, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-should-children-be-tried-as-adults/16696/41 "1999-09-01T14:28:00Z")

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Dianne…do you recall what the James Bulger murderers received as sentences and if they were indeed tried as adults? Those kids were/are monsters!

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**Author:** ![nhaerens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b38774/32.png) [@nhaerens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nhaerens)\
**Post date:** [September 3, 1999, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-should-children-be-tried-as-adults/16696/42 "1999-09-03T12:16:00Z")

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What about protecting society. We always talk about protecting the perpetrators. Why are we not allowed to get rid of dangerous people to protect the rest of us, for purposes of ‘political correctness’. The people who die at the hands of these children are forgotten, and barely mentioned. The focus is on the girl who committed the act. When I was a kid, I knew that killing was wrong, even if I wasn’t ‘mature’. If I kill, I am ready to face the consequences.  
And another thing, which may seem unrelated, but many groups other than ‘white people’ are extremely racist

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