To the editor:

Since Journal-World readers are limited on how often they can have letters published in this forum, this letter will address two unrelated concerns. Both stem from recent Journal-World articles.

The first concerns the current practice of arresting young children and teenagers for actions that are clearly against laws created for adults. I define an adult, for purpose of pressing a criminal charge, as a person of 21 years or older. At this age, the brain is sufficiently developed that an understanding of the choice he or she makes when breaking the law should be in place.

It is simply more wrong to arrest a 10-year-old, 13-year-old, 17-year-old and treat them as adults than the supposed benefit to an “endangered public” warrants. The boy whose recent arrest for a possible armed robbery brought out two dozen(!) armed officers to a local motel for his capture must have been terrified. His four-year criminal history bespeaks a child who needs love and attention, boundaries and nurturing by a caring family. Lack of this care (no blame implied) can often result in dysfunctional behavior of many different forms.

The same rules that govern adult arrests should not apply to children — and only hurt them more than they already are suffering, since detention/punishment reinforces, rather than heals, the negative self-image that causes them to act out.

The second concern: the city administrators’ longstanding prejudice against North Lawrence residents. Why don’t they matter to you?