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For me, this girl is not some unknowable evil. And I think it's a mistake to view her thus. When the case was first reported, it was horrifying, shocking. What on earth could move someone to such callous disregard for the life of a loved one?
It was really easy to think of her as a monster until I still doing the math. Fifteen when they met, 18 months of dating a suicidal teen. I don't know whether this girl is a psychopath or just troubled. I don't know whether or not jail will benefit her. I've no particular opinion on the verdict. What I do believe most strongly, is that this case demonstrates the importance of remembering that children are not capable of adult relationships and that they need to be monitored.
Teens may not be as mature as people in their twenties or older, and they certainly should be monitored by their parents until they are "of age," but they're not exactly children either (the term adolescent, teen or young adult are more commonly used for a reason). During many times and places in history, teens were considered old enough to marry, or to be sent off to war, and to assume many adult responsibilities before the age of 18.
It's complicated, of course, because in the old days, the age of majority was even older (21, sometimes later) than it is now. But teens were treated like people who had many of the risks and responsibilities of adulthood without all the rights (well, teenage girls wouldn't have adult rights, even when they were fully adult).
This may not have always been in their best interest, and many probably messed up, but the overwhelming majority of teens who are in romantic relationships do not do what this girl did. And even if teens are kept on a very short leash and not allowed to ever be alone with friends or romantic interests (which is, I think, pretty extreme parenting, even by current standards), they can do a lot of harassing, bullying, threatening and so on via the internet and texting.
I do agree that teens shouldn't be tried as adults (though the legal systems in most states seem to disagree with me), because their brains aren't fully mature and they still have poorer impulse control and socialization than they will in a few years, and they tend to lack the perspective to deal with toxic experiences or environments. I know some people who had rough adolescences, where they did some very questionable things, and some who were really unpleasant people (to put it mildly), who turned out to be decent, empathetic and law-abiding adults.
Still, this girl's behavior does not strike me as a variation of normal. Should she go to an adult prison and spend years behind bars with hardened criminals? I don't think so, because this would destroy any chance she might have of being rehabilitated. But there should still be consequences and treatment for whatever it is that led her to want her boyfriend to commit suicide so badly.
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