When does a "child" become responsible for their actions?

Word Wizard · November 26, 2015, 09:58:28 AM

I'm having a discussion with a group over two girls who joined ISIS because they felt they weren't greeted with opening arms to practice their religion in Austria. Apparently they got knocked up and then beaten to death after they realized how bad they fucked up. This group I'm discussing with thinks because the girls were 17, they were "just children" and that they shouldn't be held accountable for their actions.

What are your thoughts?

Verbatim · November 26, 2015, 10:01:20 AM

Legally, 18 (in the US).

Naturally, it varies. There's no one answer.

Cindy · November 26, 2015, 10:01:35 AM

I'll be honest

When I was 17, which was only two years ago, I'm pretty sure I would've known better than to join a radical religious extremist insurgent group

Word Wizard · November 26, 2015, 10:07:28 AM

Quote from: Verbatim on November 26, 2015, 10:01:20 AM

Legally, 18 (in the US).

Naturally, it varies. There's no one answer.

Do you think 17 is young enough that even joining a terrorist group and dying deserves pity?

gats · November 26, 2015, 10:09:43 AM

It really depends on the way someone is raised.

Turkey · November 26, 2015, 10:10:19 AM

Children aren't even capable of empathy until around age 8, which is why kids can seem to be cold-hearted fucks. Responsible for small stuff to learn discipline? Definitely. Responsible for actual comes? Nah.

13's a good age to start enforcing legal repercussions.

cxfhvxgkcf-56:7 · November 26, 2015, 10:11:27 AM

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Cindy · November 26, 2015, 10:12:39 AM

Quote from: Thanksgiving is Murder on November 26, 2015, 10:10:19 AM

Children aren't even capable of empathy until around age 8, which is why kids can seem to be cold-hearted fucks. Responsible for small stuff to learn discipline? Definitely. Responsible for actual comes? Nah.

13's a good age to start enforcing legal repercussions.

Eh, I don't think it's quite that they aren't capable of empathy, just that, until a certain age, they aren't capable of looking at things from another's point of view. Not quite the same.

Word Wizard · November 26, 2015, 10:12:47 AM

Quote from: Cindo on November 26, 2015, 10:01:35 AM

I'll be honest

When I was 17, which was only two years ago, I'm pretty sure I would've known better than to join a radical religious extremist insurgent group

And not just any terrorist group, but the one that is killing so many of your fellow country men and women that they have to leave. I fail to see how anyone can just tac it as a few "bad decisions" and completely dismiss all accountability for their actions.

Thun · November 26, 2015, 10:17:36 AM

As soon as they leave the womb.

Turkey · November 26, 2015, 10:23:54 AM

Quote from: Cindo on November 26, 2015, 10:12:39 AM

Quote from: Thanksgiving is Murder on November 26, 2015, 10:10:19 AM
Children aren't even capable of empathy until around age 8, which is why kids can seem to be cold-hearted fucks. Responsible for small stuff to learn discipline? Definitely. Responsible for actual comes? Nah.

13's a good age to start enforcing legal repercussions.
Eh, I don't think it's quite that they aren't capable of empathy, just that, until a certain age, they aren't capable of looking at things from another's point of view. Not quite the same.

No, I literally mean that children don't have a fully developed sense of empathy until ages 6-8.

Flee · November 26, 2015, 10:28:25 AM

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MyNameIsCharlie · November 26, 2015, 02:14:56 PM

Normal cognitive ability? I'd say 15 or 16.

Sandtrap · November 26, 2015, 02:21:07 PM

Really hard to tell in some cases.

You get kids who hit the off switch early and do something terrible like intentionally killing another kid or their parents.

You can't set an age bar that generalizes people, because people all develop differently. So people age faster, mentally. They seem much older than they really are. And likewise, you can have older people with "childish" brains, so to speak.

Are as far as your question goes, it all depends on the case, and the mental structure of the individual in question.

Super Irish · November 27, 2015, 07:56:33 AM

In the UK the lowest age a kid can be charged with a crime is 10 I think?

Anyway, if there's no clear outside influence on the kid to commit the crime, they should be held responsible. The punishment however would be far less than what an adult would recieve, i.e. A stern talking to about right and wrong with parents and/or police.

Only exception to this would be extreme crime, like those two kids in the 80's who tortured and murdered another kid. That's just fucked up.

Mordo · November 27, 2015, 08:57:23 AM

10 or 11 ish. All depends on the individual really.

Winy · November 27, 2015, 10:13:19 AM

It depends, but people are mostly responsible for their actions by the time they're ten or eleven, if you ask me. I know some people might consider that young, but in my experience, ten year-olds are perfectly capable of making pretty rational decisions. A seventeen year-old doesn't deserve any sort of slack after joining ISIS. Anybody with half a brain could figure out why that's a terrible decision.

The Lord Ruler · November 27, 2015, 10:28:56 AM

Depends on the kid

Id say 13-14

DAS B00T x2 · November 27, 2015, 06:00:59 PM

12 to 14, really.

November 27, 2015, 06:06:14 PM

Most of these answers are waaaay too high, unless you're taking "responsible for their actions" to mean "can face full legal prosecution as an adult would".

If you are old enough to understand something as simple as "I am being punished because I did X", then you are old enough for your actions to have consequences, diminished in severity as they may be.

Ender · November 28, 2015, 12:32:17 PM

12 or 13

Jim · November 28, 2015, 04:59:34 PM

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