FWIW, I took no firm stance here. But consider this Jess... who is to say what age is appropriate? You can have sex legally in some countries very young. The point is who made the original age of 18 in the US and has science proven that it is more subjective as to when someone is an adult? Surely you have seen kids beyond their years when dealing with them and some more mature than adults in many cases. Again, it is a slippery slope. But counseling should be the first choice in threats, but common sense says we need to remain very cautious with things like the young incel movements, etc.
I didn’t think you did take a firm stance. I read your reply.
Cultural differences play a part in behavior. That’s why you see different cultures with teenagers who act like adults. However, brain biology is independent of all that and brain biology tells us we don’t fully develop adult reasoning capabilities til around 25 years old.
Who choose 18 and how was it chosen in the United States? I don’t know. I strongly disagree with it at this point considering the even more culturally based (it seems) retardation of the development of “adulting” evident in current society. Any sort of arbitrary cut off causes problems. What is the statistical difference between someone 17 years and 364 days and someone 18 years old? Quite frankly there is none. These are all pretty unanswerable questions at this point in time, imo.
Here’s what I do know. Try a kid as an adult and you are giving them a life sentence (even if it’s only a year long actual sentence) when they are at an age that is highly impressionable and haven’t finished fully maturing into adults yet. I’ve seen it firsthand, I live with it sleeping next to me.
Here’s what else I know. Bomb threats and threats to schools from students aren’t new. Fights and violence among students aren’t new. We used to have them once a week, atleast, when I was in school and this was pre-911, pre Columbine. I left school just prior to all that happening. The kids that did it? None were treated like adults and put into the CJS. Many are now stockbrokers, lawyers, doctors and have successful and what appears to be law abiding productive lives. I haven’t heard about even one of them going on to become career criminals or murserers or anything of the sort.
We have a responsibility to children to guide them into adulthood. We have a responsibility to listen to cries for help, notice the signs even when they aren’t verbal, and intervene to get them the help they need before it’s too late. We also have a responsibility to address this crisis of bullying or whatever the hell is going on in these schools to prevent things like this from happening or even becoming possible.