To the Editor,
In 2010, the United States Supreme Court decided that juvenile offenders, even those convicted of rape and murder, cannot be sentenced to life without parole. In other words, despite the horror of their crimes, their punishment cannot be permanent. The court relied on several widely accepted facts about juveniles: “juveniles have a ‘lack of maturity and an underdeveloped sense of responsibility’; they ‘are more vulnerable or susceptible to negative influences and outside pressures, including peer pressure’ and their characters are ‘not as well formed.’ ‘[P]arts of the brain involved in behavior control continue to mature through late adolescence. Juveniles’ actions are less likely to be evidence of ‘irretrievably depraved character’ than are the actions of adults.”
We have recently seen in this community that when an “underdeveloped” personality is combined with an iPhone, the social punishment can be permanent. On average, children, who get their iPhones at around age 11, spend seven hours per day looking at a screen. They send and receive thousands of messages. Some of these messages are sexual, some are obscene and, yes, some are racist. They are out there like bullets in a gun waiting to be aimed at the author.
Often the release of the offensive message is orchestrated by a jilted boyfriend or girlfriend who has dug it up to exact revenge for his or her broken heart. The intent is obvious: “You broke up with me? I have this message you sent me, and now I will destroy you.”
The destruction that follows requires willing accomplices, other people who will spread the offending message and attack and shame its young creator. Those accomplices, unfortunately, are plentiful and include many of us adults. We tweet it, post it on Facebook and Instagram, and send out email blasts with links to the message. The local newspaper will publish a transcript of the offensive language just in case you missed it. And we all collectively pile on the juvenile whose “underdeveloped” character led to this grievous error. In their 13th, 14th or 15th year on Earth, the child will bear the rhetorical burden of society’s long-standing ills. The problems of the adults become the fault of the child. The consequences for that child are dire — death threats, depression, isolation and, in too many cases, suicide.
Like most of us, I am disgusted by racism. I am also disgusted by the abuse of children. So next time you learn that one of the millions of inappropriate images residing on the iPhone of a young person in our community is circulating in the ether, pause and recall the language of the Supreme Court about the culpability of children. Do not spread the message around. Do not republish it. Ask what you can do to contain the damage. And ask what we can all do as a community to help the child grow into a kind and decent adult who loves all people and knows from experience the power of forgiveness and redemption.
Bryan Lentz
Swarthmore
