Lowering the juvenile age for criminal liability

THERE is this proposal from Senate Presi dent Vicente ‘Tito’ Sotto to lower the age of criminal liability for juveniles in the country to 12 years old. His proposal contained in Senate Bill 2026 will seek to amend Republic Act 9344 which is the law that exempts children 15 years old and below from any criminal liability and the prospect of being incarcerated in jail.

Well a lot can certainly be said about our children today. Perhaps children and juveniles that were 15 years old ten years ago would not know how to expertly manipulate computers and cellphones or be exposed to an information rich environment such as the internet. That was ten years ago.

Today no self-respecting and inquisitive child or juvenile would dare leave the security of the home for the outside world without having in his/her person either an iphone, android, ipad, laptop or some other electronic thingamajig or gizmo that connects his/her life to the digital and high-tech world. This is the reality that the children of today are completely and absolutely exposed to, an environment to which us adults are still trying to fully understand and comprehend. We have to remember that the adults of today were not as familiar with such technological gadgets when they were at the same age as the youngsters now.

The children of today are more aware and cognizant of events happening around them because of the internet and the computer games and other online games that they play. In fact the computer games that they play are totally immersive and interactive that these children and juveniles not only make decisions in the real world but also make difficult decisions, sometimes even life threatening ones for their characters in the game. This will tell us that the concept of right and