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“The YOA should apply to youth as young as ten years old.”

To think that the age of an individual guilty of committing a crime would prevent or protect them from a suitable punishment is beyond belief. It is my opinion that the minimum age of an individual to be properly sentenced under the Young Offenders Act should be 10. Due to the circumstances that surround the increasing numbers of youth violence, and the decreasing numbers in age they are being committed at, the Act should start to cover a broader and, in sense, younger age group. I find no reason that a 10 year old should not be punished under the same rules and regulations as a 13 or 18 year old as they are maturing to a stage in their lives that they should begin to understand the basic principals of what is right and what is wrong. It would make no sense that an individual not be punished for a crime because of their age whereas another individual of an older age be punished for the same actions. If the minimum age of the Young Offenders Act lowers to 10, younger members of soci...

Posted by: Sheryl Hogges

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