We’re always uncertain about how to handle children who commit brutal crimes. The case of Vincent Romero, the 8-year-old in Arizona who allegedly shot and killed his father and his friend and roommate, Timothy Romans, is no different. Currently, prosecutors are still trying to determine the exact charges and whether or not the boy will be tried as an adult.
Incidents such as this force us to ask questions. We must decide where we draw the line when trying and sentencing young people. Even if the boy is found guilty, he should not be confined in a typical juvenile facility, but should be treated through alternative means until he is reformed.
My perspective is based on my religious views that juveniles can be reformed and that such situations must be treated delicately. An 8-year-old boy can make a 180-degree turn around if his situation is handled with serious care and dedication. Children correlate values such as compassion with adults that have been exemplary in treating them compassionately.
As a Muslim, I was brought up to believe that repentance leads to redemption. I was brought up in a family that practiced the Islamic value of forgiveness. This attitude allows me the chance to redeem myself and to fix my behavior. Repentance does not stop at a carelessly uttered apology. For my repentance to be sincere and acceptable to God, I was taught to abide by four conditions: Ask God for forgiveness, regret the action, never go back to it and return the rights of the individual that I wronged.
This is exactly how Romero should be treated. Murder is one of the sins God forgives. As long as juvenile criminals are repentant and willing to reform, they shouldn’t be judged and isolated. Juveniles should not be prosecuted and punished in the same way as adults are. Many will also agree with Islam’s mandate that juveniles should not be given the death penalty.
According to Islamic law, the death penalty only applies to people who are considered mature, which happens at puberty. Sharif Battikhi, the imam or religious leader of the Muslim community in San Diego, said this age is roughly around 15 to 18 years old. Anyone who has not yet reached puberty is considered a juvenile. A narration by the Prophet Muhammad mentions that a child is not held accountable for his or her actions until he or she becomes an adult. This narration said that children who haven’t matured yet are excused from the accountability and punishment that would normally fall upon grown people who committed the same crime.
Islamic society, at its functional stage, used to implement a rigorous program of rehabilitation based on Islamic teachings. These rehabilitation methods focused on the central premise that human beings have the ability to reform, if he or she wants to, with the help of God and society. Juvenile criminals were put in rehabilitative schools, which would provide access to various specialists such as teachers, doctors, religious leaders and social workers. All of them would work together to help the person in question improve.
If certain individuals are believed to be especially dangerous, he or she would be placed in an intensive reform program. When these individuals’ behaviors seemed to have normalized somewhat, he or she would graduate to another level of reform, where he or she would be rehabilitated even more. These individuals climb up the levels of reform until their caretakers and specialists believe they are stabilized. This formula mimics the tendency of human beings to grow and develop in stages.
The Islamic reform schools help to transition the individuals toward becoming contributing and successful members of society. For instance, they allow juvenile criminals to finish their education along with everyone else, so that when they are released, they can continue with their education and easily find jobs. The schools would provide teachers and tutors as well as access to books so that juveniles can finish their education.
The caretakers at the Islamic reform schools would then report the juveniles’ progress to judges in Islamic courts. Once juvenile criminals are considered to have normalized, the reform specialists let the judges know that the reformed youth could then be reintegrated into society. The Islamic state encouraged the education system and job sectors to help them adjust and reintegrate into society and discouraged from discriminating against crimes committed before they reached an age where they could be reasonably held accountable.
America could benefit from a system such as the rehabilitative schools. Used in conjunction with a forgiving attitude, the second chance the schools provide would have a powerful, healing effect on the psyche of youth. These individuals make mistakes out of ignorance and without mature realization of the seriousness of their actions. And if anyone needs rehabilitation and mercy, it’s a boy who has committed murder as an 8-year-old.
—Hafiza Aimaq is a journalism senior.
—This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Daily Aztec. Send e-mail to letters@thedailyaztec.com. Anonymous letters will not be printed — include your full name, major and year in school.
The Daily Aztec > State of Mind
A GUEST'S PERSPECTIVE: Children need reform
Published: Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Updated: Wednesday, November 26, 2008
I very much like the philosophy and teaching of the author's upbringing. It is uplifting to read that others are guided by morals and value others.
This case with this young boy, there is most probably much more than is being told, such is the purpose for the gag order and a wise decision. A case as delicate as this should be tried in a fair court of law and not in the media. This crime did not happen because the boy had nothing better to do and his iPod was broken. Something began to break down before the final actions came about. Amazingly the best that I have to offer to anyone is a prayer to God asking to guide the person and to make others connected with the person to witness life through your eyes, as live the experience that would serve God and not harm another.