All of you reading this are teens. You’ve all made mistakes, that’s what being a teen is all about, making mistakes, learning from them, and doing better the next time. What if your mistake was big enough to be considered a crime? You would become a part of our nation’s juvenile detention system. Even teens who make big mistakes don’t deserve to have their lives ended or ruined as a result. Just because they’ve had to learn a bigger lesson than any of us have had to, doesn’t mean they are evil. Juvenile defendants should never be eligible for the death penalty, it is horrible to end someone’s life, especially that of someone who is still learning what society expects of them. I believe that on a case-by-case basis, juvenile defendants should be considered for rehabilitation programs and, in some cases, carefully monitored parole. In all juvenile detention facilities, education and vocational training should be an integral part of their programming.