In recent important government and sports events, attention has been focused on using actions taken as a juvenile as a basis for judging the worthiness of an adult.

Legal experts have concluded that a juvenile lacks the maturity to fully understand their actions. As a result, the courts treat juvenile law violators differently than adults. There is a belief that juveniles can learn from their mistakes and ultimately develop into law-abiding adults.

Accordingly, fact checkers and news reporters should temper their focus on a person’s teenage actions in judging that person’s current worthiness for consideration for an award or appointment. As we evolve from being a child to an adult, we face dramatic changes during our teen years that can lead to mistakes in behavior due to peer pressure, societal expectations, illegal opportunities and just pure stupidity. These actions can lead to injury to self and others.

Self-examination of our own teen years will likely reveal actions that we regret. We all live with our mistakes, big and small.

John Tamashiro

Pearl City

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