Are 17 Year Olds Children Or Adults? Please Help...

[Mass_Hysteria]

Hi!
Jane is a one of my work colleagues, please have a look at links below, it is so important for any who has young people in their lifes.
Joe was a delightful young man, with fantastic brave parents who knew nothing of his arrest until after he died. A simple phone call could have changed this heartbreaking outcome for Jane and Nick’s only child. If you haven’t already please take a moment to read and sign the online petition change.org/4joe
And then pass on to as many people, grandparents, work colleagues, and friends as you can, many parents are shocked to find that if their 17 year was held in police custody they would not be informed, and therefore they don’t get the chance to support their child in difficult circumstances. Even though we have parental responsibility for them until they are 18.
Joe made a bad decision, and his parents accept that he would have been punished by the law. But with their support he wouldn’t have felt that he had no future, and not taken this tragic step.
Jane and Nick are taking the petition to 10 Downing Street this Thursday and would love it to be at 60,000. They are nearly there.
Please share the petition page and also the channel 4 interview with Jane and Nick.
http://www.channel4.com/news/if-the-law-had-been-different-joe-would-still-be-alive


I just signed the petition "Home Office @ukhomeoffice: Change the law so 17-year-olds are treated as children in custody #4Joe" on Change.org.

It's important. Will you sign it too? Here's the link:

http://www.change.org/petitions/home-office-ukhomeoffice-change-the-law-so-17-year-olds-are-treated-as-children-in-custody-4joe

Thanks!

Mass

[ummmm]

Sorry, no. 17 year olds are not children imo.

[China Doll]

No. At the age of 17 young adults (NOT children) do have a right to privacy and to make thier own decisions. We have 17 year old patients who specifically request to not have their parents copied in to their clinical letters or information about their appointments, we have others who rely on their parents to do everything so I don't think it's acceptable to have a generic rule about what 17 year olds can and can't cope with.

[Mass_Hysteria]

More to the point, should his parents not have been notified before he was charged, instead of afterwards? He was an adult before the charge and a child afterwards?

[Sharingan]

I think the law needs to clarify when people become adults because you can join the army, get married, drive now at 16 but not vote til you are 18 or drink or smoke. It seems no-one is very sure but I would not feel happy about my parents being informed of what I was doing after I hit 16. I do feel for his family though and understand they want to do somehting to make themselves feel better and feel they are making a difference to other people in a similar situation.

[bednobs]

heya mass, i read the link and was left wondering why the parent's feel he wouldn't have committed suicide if they had attended his arrest and incarceration? I can't really see a link of how or why it would have changed the outcome. Perhaps i'm just being dim?

[april1693]

I'm with Ummmm, if you're old enough to get behind the wheel and drive, you should be treated like every other driver who breaks the law.

[China Doll]

I agree bednobs, they just can't know the outcome would have been any different.

[ummmm]

Still no.

[ummmm]

Shar - you can smoke at 16, you're just not allowed to buy them.

[China Doll]

Also Mass I would say that if the law changed then I would be more in favour of 17 year olds being treated like adults before and afterwards... sorry, probably sounds harsh as they're your friends.

[Sharingan]

Oh I didn't know that Ummmm xx

[sara3]

I feel for the parents and understand why they're trying to do something they view as positive, but sadly I don't see how it would have stopped their son doing what he did.

[bednobs]

i saw the dad on breakfast this morning

[kylesmum]

A word of caution, I signed an on-line petition in good faith, I am now inundated with every on-line petition by email.

As to whether I think 17yr old are adult or children ? It's a grey area, that's not a cop out but most at that age are in a transitional period, I think anyhow.Some mature a lot quicker than others at that age.

[Tina823]

In fact, 17 year olds are not children any more!

[Mass_Hysteria]

Update.

Thanks if you voted, I know there was some discussion following my post.

Mass


---- -

Out of the tragedy of the past year a little bit of light came into our lives yesterday, and it wouldn't have happened without you.

Yesterday morning, the High Court ruled that 17 year olds must be treated as children in police custody and that the Government has been acting unlawfully by treating them as adults.

This is a fantastic victory and means that the Home Office must ensure that 17 year olds are treated as children in custody and their parents or another adult be informed about their arrest.

This wouldn't have been possible without your support. Over 55,000 joined you and signed our petition calling for the change in the law. We've been blown away by the response and all the comments that have been left in support have been amazing. Thank you.

Although this change won't bring back Joe, we are so pleased that no other parent will have to face what we did. As the judge ruled yesterday, a parent has the right to know what their child is facing and to support them. We know that if we had been there for Joe then it could have all been very different.

The Home Office has said that they accept the court's judgment and will consider the next steps they should take to implement the changes. We hope they will do this with speed and issue immediate guidance to police forces on how to protect 17 year olds.

We haven't had much to celebrate since we lost Joe. But thanks to you, everyone who signed our petition and all those who have supported us, we can celebrate today - an historic change to the law in memory of Joe.

Thank you for your support,

Nick and Jane Lawton

[Mass_Hysteria]

Sorry I posted "voted" when I mean't "signed"

Mass

[WyeDyed]

My opinion is that it depends on the 17 year old.
I am, however, seeing if this comes up in latest posts.