“The Youth Are Our Future” by Natalie De Mola

Is it fair that your child can make one mistake and spend the rest of his or her life paying for it? Is it fair to say that the reason children must have a guardian is because they are not old enough to make their own decisions? Why is it that kids can’t smoke until the age of 18, or that they can’t drink until the age of 21? It’s because our mind is not fully developed and we are still growing into our own identity.

Here is the big question? Why is it that voters can vote to give a child life in prison, but we are not allowed to vote because we are too young? We can get tried and punished as adults, but we get treated like children when it is convenient to others.

I am a 27-year-old woman writing this article to shed some light on behalf of all the youth who have made that “one mistake that we now pay for with our lives.” I am currently sentenced to a life without the possibility of parole sentence for a crime that happened when I was only 16 years young.

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