Magazine Article

“Adolescents and Serious Crime: A Couple of Stories”, written by Jean Mercer, was published in Psychology Today on November 15, 2009. This magazine article discusses two different stories of young children who had committed crimes. The article details the backgrounds and childhood of these juveniles who had committed such horrific crimes. Mary Bell, who was an 11-year-old child, strangled and killed a four-year-old boy. Mary’s childhood was far from a healthy one. She lived in poverty with her mother who was also a prostitute. Between the ages of four and eight, Mary’s mother used her routinely in inappropriate situations related to her prostitution activities. In the other story that Ms Mercer illustrates, a 14-year-old boy raped a 12-year-old girl, and then killed her by striking her with a lamp in a wooded area near his home. When the 14-year-old boy was six years old, a gang of older boys raped him in the same exact spot where he raped the 12-year-old girl. This tragic experience was never discussed openly because the boy was too humiliated that something such as rape happened to him. I chose this article because at the end, it summarizes what future steps the law should take into account before determining appropriate punishments for juveniles. Lastly, it is important to research a juvenile’s childhood background because it may affect the choices they make.                  

Newspaper Article

"My Life as a Juvenile Delinquent", written by Dick Cavett, was published in the New York Times on March 11, 2011. This newspaper article told a story about one of Mr. Cavett's delinquent encounters with the law, when he was a young mischievous kid. Mr. Cavett and some of his friends broke an elderly couple's glass door while throwing small rocks. Soon after the incident, they were caught and brought back to the police station. Fortunately enough for the young kids, they were released and were never booked. In the end, Mr. Cavett called Officer Collins claiming he was the father of one of the boys. He went on to say that he and his friends paid the elderly couple to get their door fixed which was not true. To this day, Dick Cavett still feels guilty for lying to Officer Collins and wishes that he had never done it. I chose this story-telling article for a few reasons. First, throughout the article I was able to witness the changes in the juveniles’ demeanor from beginning to end, which was rather interesting to observe. Also, it was captivating to read how Mr. Cavett regretted the whole event years later and wished that he had told the truth. Lastly, I believe his story relates to juvenile delinquency today since most juveniles still get extremely nervous when they are caught by law enforcement and regret committing the crime they did after thinking about possible punishments they could face.