The juvenile crime rate that was so alarming a few years ago has begun to fall - juvenile felony arrest rates in California have declined by more than forty percent in the last twenty years. While California's juvenile population rose by a half a million since the middle and late 1970's, juveniles made up less than fifth-teen percent of California's felony arrests in 1998, compared to thirty percent in 1978; according to the Justice Policy Institute. The juvenile arrests have dropped back, even as the population of kids between ages of ten and eight-teen has continued to grow, and the number of kids confined in the California Youth Authority (CYA) has fallen.

With all the progress our society has made in cutti

It is unbelievable that our society will allow for such a law. It seems unfair that a fourteen year old child can make a mistake and pay for it the rest of his/her life. The reason our system has never tried youth as adults is because they are not mature enough to think like an adult and take responsibility for themselves. At such a young age there is still hope for an alteration in his/her lifestyle, locking the child up only diminishes the chance of change. Children act out for attention and in many cases do whatever it takes to get that attention; even if it means bringing a gun to school, or going into a store and stealing a pack of gum. Our society must realize there is a problem with today's youth and find where it stems from - only then is there any hope for change. Putting children into prisons is like pushing dirt under a rug; the dirt can only sit for so long until someone realizes there's a problem and looks to see what the problem is. Our society has been pushing dirt under the rug for so long now that it's only a matter of time until the dirt chafes a hole right through the worn out rug.

Taking all that into consideration it seems unbelievable that the Californians would allow for such a system. On the other hand proposition 21 could be considered an act that will 'toughen the law' to safeguard the citizens. The FBI estimates the California juvenile population will increase by more than thirty-three percent over the next fifteen years, leading to predictions of a juvenile crime wave. The laws must be strengthened in order to obtain serious consequences, protecting the citizens from violent juvenile criminals and gang offenders.

Recently in California Proposition 21 - the Gang Violence and Juvenile Crime Prevention Act - passed. This new law puts youth into the adult system, allowing youth to be mixed with adults in prison. Sending youth as young as fourteen to the adult court system rather than to juvenile court.

ng back in juvenile crimes there is still a very serious problem. But

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1368
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)