11 Year-Old Murders 8 Year-Old

[abaris]

You have a point, unless you consider speaking and general discipline child abuse. I was spanked for every wrong thing I did when I was small, and it taught me not to lie, steal and other things. I've noticed that in pampered households where children aren't disciplined for wrong doing, children do tend to be more spoilt (like the aforementioned example).

Obviously you don't get the distinction between the bleeding heart approach and what's reasonable for a society. As I said, that guy has serious mental problems. Even if tried as an adult, he will come out at some point. Untreated, made worse by the prison system, probably a career criminal or serial offender.

On the other hand you might read up on the works of John Douglas and Hazlewood, who were prominent FBI profilers and forensic psychologists. At the age of 11 you can still catch them. At the age of 21 or whenever he's supposed to come out, the train has left the station. To the detriment of society.