In the most recent school shooting in Widner, Georgia, the perpetrator, Colt Gay, is a 14-year-old boy. My first reaction was: Another school shooting; another young, white male who is accused of taking a gun to school and killing his teachers and classmates. Another day in American. I’ve become somewhat numb.
But something else struck me this time — the age of the shooter and the fact that Georgia is trying him as an adult. Fourteen… I thought about my own behavior at 14, 15, 16. I thought about how we all make mistakes and bad decisions in our youth, but we grow up and, hopefully, we learn and improve.
No obviously we aren’t talking about vandalism, underage drinking or petty theft. This is mass murder, a horrible, devastating crime.
But, does the nature of the crime change the developmental age of the accused criminal? He is still 14. Why bother to have two separate court systems? Is there no redemptive value in this child? With mental health treatment and corrective, rehabilitative action, could he perhaps emerge from the juvenile justice system to improve society? Or will he cost the taxpayers of Georgia for the rest of his natural life?
I look at the parents of these young gunmen and believe that, in many instances, they should bear the brunt of judicial punishment. These adults possess fully developed brains, capable of rational, adult decision-making. A 14-year-old does not. Colt absolutely needs to be tried and convicted, but in a juvenile court, because he is a juvenile.
Beth Briggs
Lima
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