Charged as Adults, Children Are Abandoned When They Could Be Saved [NYTimes.com]

It makes absolutely no sense for society to lock up forever a 12 year old boy for such a crime.  He may have been dissociated at the time of this event.  Does anyone look at what happened to him during his childhood?  I think the most damning reason not to look at what may have happened to this boy, is that society may have to look at how we have let down our children ---- in this case the boy who died and the boy who committed this act.  But as a society, we don't want to look at how we have let both these boys down, we don't want to know  how we were not there for these children when they needed us.   This terrible event, should be an opportunity for society to look at where WE failed, where we--- through lack of awareness and concern (our ignorance) produced this tragic outcome.  Until we stop blaming young children and instead protect them, we can expect no different outcome in the future.  Society will not realize justice in sending a young boy to prison for his entire life.  Instead society will pile injustice upon injustice and ignorance upon ignorance.  All our children will remain susceptible to the loss of their own life when abuse and abandoned children continue to do similar things as this 12 year old boy.  What a loss to us all.  And what a way to leave all of society susceptible to further trauma.