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Part A:

Read the article: “How Old is Old Enough?” by Catherine Rampell.  Copy and paste the following questions into a word document.  Please answer each question thoughtfully and in full sentences. (Questions adapted from The New York Times learning blogs)

1.  What is the age of responsibility generally around the world?
2. Is this age standard consistently applied throughout our country? (Explain)
3. How did the Vietnam War effect the voting age?
4. What is the “very bad combination” that Professor Steinberg has found about teenagers in his experiments?  What else does his research show about levels of maturity?
5. What did the Supreme Court (in America) rule in 2005?  What type of evidence was used to help decide that case?

Part B:

Imagine that after the children are rescued they are returned to England where the crimes committed by Jack and Roger are revealed.

Using information from the article “How Old is Old Enough”? and from the novel The Lord of the Flies make a persuasive argument regarding whether you think Jack and Roger should be tried as adults or children for the crimes they committed while on the island.

Review the crimes committed by the children throughout the novel and write a 1.5 page report with your findings about their crimes (using quotations from the novel- and from the article if you wish) to support your decision to try them (or just one of them) as adults or children.