It is heartening, indeed, to learn that someone is trying to put the "justice" back into juvenile justice.

Perhaps our lawmakers should follow the clear-visioned and compassionate example that Truett Cathy is setting. What a breath of fresh air, fairness, common sense and decency Cathy brings to the preteens who vandalized his lodge home in New Smyrna Beach, Fla., and to us as a society. I applaud his singular effort to stop the shortsighted, overly punitive practices that now define our juvenile justice system, as justice it is not.

(ENLARGE)

Vicki Griffin lives in Roswell.

Although the preteens who vandalized Cathy's lodge caused $30,000 in damage, he is not seeking restitution. This is a generosity that most of us could ill-afford. However, Cathy, founder of the Chick-fil-A restaurant chain, has shown compassion. Beyond that, the punishment he has meted out (writing, reading, forbidding TV and video games) is in accordance with the crimes committed and the age and maturity levels of the offenders. It will most likely serve to truly rehabilitate these children.

The dangerous trend toward more severe punishment; less, if any, rehabilitation; and classifying and punishing as adults juveniles who commit crimes is not serving our society, our children or our court system.

As a society we have been too quick to replace rehabilitation with punishment, often adult punishment, and to classify as adults children who commit crimes, and not always only those crimes deemed serious. We prosecute and punish as adults teens who have consensual sex with other teens, thus forever classifying them as sexual predators. Yet true adult sexual predators too frequently serve less time in prison than the children they violated spent being abused by them. In the absence of their parents or guardians, and without legal representation, we force false confessions from children as part of our interrogation practices. We put college students in jail for traffic violations and call the police, before parents, to remove students who violate often draconian zero-tolerance rules in our schools.

Adolescence is defined roughly as the time between the onset of puberty and maturity, generally the ages of 10 to 25. That's right, 25 years old, as defined by human brain maturation. The prefrontal cortex, which governs the "executive functions" of reasoning, advanced thought and impulse control, is the final area of the brain to mature.

As a society we allow that an 18-year-old is mature enough to marry, smoke cigarettes and join the military, but that a person is not mature enough to legally consume alcohol until age 21. The intent of these laws is to allow our youth the opportunity to learn as they mature, while protecting them until they do.

While age 18 may serve our youth well as a measure allowing a certain level of maturity and the responsibility that goes with it, perhaps, as the adults, we should also allow that the bad decisions made in youth, depending on the actions, crime and circumstances, be given consideration due to brain development.

If only our legislators and the laws they pass could be as compassionate and discretionary as Cathy when it comes to our juveniles and young adults.