Looks like they'll be charged as adults...

[vladtickleman22]

Vlad, kids often don't care - or don't think about it - even when the consequences of what they're doing include death.

The problem is that they can't really believe that it will happen to them, even if they see it happen to someone else. Consequences that they have personally faced before, such as the revocation of privileges or other standard punishments, are much more real to kids. Things that only happen to someone else in the news, not so much.

That is why children do stupid things. It's part of what makes them children. I can't believe that you honestly don't understand that.

And to top it all off, you apparently sincerely believe that the sort of young person who would set another young person on fire really looks ahead and cares about the consequences. You really suppose that some other kid will say to himself, "You know, I'd really like to set Tommy Smith on fire until he dies. That'd be cool to watch. But, no, I might go to prison."

Amazing. But, if that's really how you think then I doubt any reasoned argument will convince you otherwise. I suppose I was just hoping for something a little more reasonable - or at least a little more likely - from the people who are saying "hang 'em as high as possible."

You missed the part where i said there is no hope for these kids. No one who would do something like this has any hope and no amount of consequences will deter someone like that.

I can't believe you don't understand the age of reason is 7. So these "kids" at 15 are hardly "kids" at all. You said yourself they only think about what could happen to them. Well, if they break a window then priviledges get taken away. At 15 don't you think they would be able to understand that if they beat the living hell out of someone and he/she dies. They would understand they would go to prison for a very long time?

Excuse me for not being more specific in my response to you. Leading you to believe i thought people with no emotional connection to human life actually understood consequenses.

A servere punishment would deter kids who would be thinking about shooting someone or stabbing someone. Even just intending to beat the hell out of someone not intending to kill them, but does. It would have an effect on THOSE teenagers.

Next time i will try to be slightly more specific and realize people who read a topic are solely focused on just that topic. I had no idea people couldn't think more broadly then the very specific topic being discussed.