My 15 year old niece is being tried as an adult for a fight

[Anonymous]

Remember that OP's niece will be returning back into her community. Do you want her in better shape when she returns? Less likely to fight and reoffend in other ways? Juvenile adjudication provides many more support services like mental health treatment, substance use treatment, assessing the child's home living conditions, etc. It's a completely different process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Remember that OP's niece will be returning back into her community. Do you want her in better shape when she returns? Less likely to fight and reoffend in other ways? Juvenile adjudication provides many more support services like mental health treatment, substance use treatment, assessing the child's home living conditions, etc. It's a completely different process.

Remember that she has be caught and released many times already according to OP, which is why THIS time, the prosecutor is stepping up the consequences as the law allows. I think the bigger problem is why isn't the juvenile system working?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Remember that OP's niece will be returning back into her community. Do you want her in better shape when she returns? Less likely to fight and reoffend in other ways? Juvenile adjudication provides many more support services like mental health treatment, substance use treatment, assessing the child's home living conditions, etc. It's a completely different process.

They've tried that and it doesn't work, given the fact that she keeps reoffending. It's time to try something else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Remember that OP's niece will be returning back into her community. Do you want her in better shape when she returns? Less likely to fight and reoffend in other ways? Juvenile adjudication provides many more support services like mental health treatment, substance use treatment, assessing the child's home living conditions, etc. It's a completely different process.

Remember that she has be caught and released many times already according to OP, which is why THIS time, the prosecutor is stepping up the consequences as the law allows. I think the bigger problem is why isn't the juvenile system working?

So OP’s niece has no responsibility for her behavior? The juvenile system may be working very well - seems like the niece is just a bad seed.

[Anonymous]

Would you prefer that she be tried over and over as a juvenile until she turns 18 and then kills someone? She needs to learn quickly that consequences have actions, or you'll be attending a murder trial someday.

[Anonymous]

I can’t believe this is for real, because who doesn’t realize that injuring others is far worse than shoplifting?

[Anonymous]

OP, I have read the postings and generally agree with most of them. Trying your 15 year old niece is sad and troubling but so is her behavior. I am the mother of a 15 year old boy/girl twins. I worry about my son's behavior in a sense of him not always being the most compliant in following rules. But, I never worry about him initiating a fight. Same for my daughter. As a girl, it is most unsettling because I don't think most girls have the propensity to fight unless pushed to defend themselves from an aggressor like your niece. The question I keep asking myself is "Why is she constantly fighting?" There is a mental health component at issue here. While I am not a mental health professional, the behavior is disturbing and makes you wonder if she is exhibiting a personality disorder. Some posters called her behavior sociopathic. I am not qualified and neither they to make such an assertion. But, I will say, your niece needs to be under the care of a therapist and a psychiatrist, who can diagnose and potentially treat her. I also wondered if she suffered or suffers from some form of abuse -- sexual or mental. She may be in pain and fighting is a release for her. Your niece will only become hardened in the criminal justice system so it is critical for her family to get her some help as possible. The judge may require her to enter a diversionary program to avoid jail, which could involve community service and undergoing anger management classes. I can't see her going to jail unless the victim was critically injured, near death or something. This is the time to act and stop making excuses.

[Anonymous]

^^Trying your niece as an adult ...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can’t believe this is for real, because who doesn’t realize that injuring others is far worse than shoplifting?

Oh I believe it. Plenty of clueless, entitled people out there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm on your side OP. I think it's absurd to try non-adults as adults. It makes no sense whatsoever. What's the point of having a different system for juveniles, then? If there's a legitimate reason to try juveniles differently, then it trying them as adults should NEVER be an option. It's not about how bad the crime is, but about the age of the person. There should be a range of consequences appropriate to the seriousness of the crime.

Share your line of reasoning with the young mom and her infant daughter who lost a husband and father (in his 30's) to a shooting by a repeat-offender 17 year old.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 15 year old niece has been in so many fights for 2 years. The last fight resulted in serious injury of the victim. I don’t condone fights at all, but this time she was tried as an adult, which made the whole family mad. I and my sister (her mother) spoke to the prosecutor directly insisting she be tried as a juvenile. The prosecutor said she has been tried as a juvenile so many times and is unable to be rehabilitated. I said teens brains are not fully developed so it takes time. At one point he said “adult actions have adult consequences” and I replied “teen actions have teen consequences”. It’s not fair the town doesn’t trust her to be out after 10 PM without an adult but thinks she is mature enough to foresee the consequences of her actions 20+ years later. I know a 17 year old kid who is being tried as a juvenile for shoplifting. This isn’t his first time shoplifting and he is older than my niece. He is being tried as a juvenile. What? Shoplifting isn’t as bad as fighting?

I usually hate it when people stereotype, but is your family crazy, hillbillies, ghetto trash (of any color),prison folk, or wealthy brats who think they are above the law? Or a combo?

Come the heck on. I’d say you were a troll but I know too many people who definitely would let a family member seriously hurt someone and not want them to face consequences.

Just like the folks who have a family member that molests kids and instead of turning them in they close ranks and protect the pervert.

If a 15 year old is already in the criminal justice system...man, they need consequences. After your niece is dealt with, the family should pool resources and send her to an inpatient mental health facility for a complete evaluation and treatment. You can help her salvage her life.

[Anonymous]

OP : Are you the same person who posted about her 15 year old niece having a baby in the bathroom and finding out the dad was the mom's boyfriend?

[Anonymous]

OP, as you are probably aware, this trial is a signal that your niece's situation is serious and that previous efforts to rehabilitate her have not been successful, for whatever reasons. If she has been fighting so badly since she was 13 that she has been tried "many times" and has now seriously injured another child, something very serious is going on here.

You are correct that teen brains are not fully developed. That is why they are CHILDREN who need to be guided and appropriately supervised by a parent or caregiver. Frankly, if your sister is not up for that task, and you care enough about this child to try to intercede with the prosecutor, you could also step up to provide guidance and supervision. If you are concerned about the psychological aspects, get her into counseling. If you are simply concerned with discipline, consider the suggestions of a rigorous boarding school program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, as you are probably aware, this trial is a signal that your niece's situation is serious and that previous efforts to rehabilitate her have not been successful, for whatever reasons. If she has been fighting so badly since she was 13 that she has been tried "many times" and has now seriously injured another child, something very serious is going on here.

You are correct that teen brains are not fully developed. That is why they are CHILDREN who need to be guided and appropriately supervised by a parent or caregiver. Frankly, if your sister is not up for that task, and you care enough about this child to try to intercede with the prosecutor, you could also step up to provide guidance and supervision. If you are concerned about the psychological aspects, get her into counseling. If you are simply concerned with discipline, consider the suggestions of a rigorous boarding school program.

It would have to be a specialized boarding school. Boarding schools would not take a student with such problems.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Remember that OP's niece will be returning back into her community. Do you want her in better shape when she returns? Less likely to fight and reoffend in other ways? Juvenile adjudication provides many more support services like mental health treatment, substance use treatment, assessing the child's home living conditions, etc. It's a completely different process.

Actually, at this point, I’d simply want OP’s neice out of my community for as long as possible. She’s already demonstrated that the juvenile system can’t handle her. Maybe her brain will mature and, in several years, she’ll be able to be a good citizen, but it’s not looking very hopeful. More likely, she will continue to re-offend until she gets too old to commit violent crime or gets herself killed.