Documentary on stick up kid

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Documentary Critique
Stick Up Kid documentary conveys the grim story of the world of juvenile crime, with less liberal laws and about a kid who was put into adult prison and it’s psychological and physical implications it had on the kid before and after release. Each perspective had been exhausted without ambiguity and biases. The end story is a result that explores the deleterious effects of young people being convicted and jailed like adults.
The debate is constricted when it comes to the crime committed by Alonza Thomas. As a social outcast and runaway, he was convinced into crime by an older person that offered him a home and regular food. During this time, the man assured Alonza to rob a QT gas station after giving him a gun. The surprising thing is that the boy was only 15 and was a high school freshman. He was caught by a clerk and handed to the police after being beaten by the employees of the gas station.
This was in the year 2000, and unfortunately, it was the year in which Proposition 21 was passed and this, therefore, meant that he would be tried as an adult. This was a proposition that was written to respond to the rising number of remorseless, psychotic and careless children who undertook atrocious crimes. The super predators did not materialise but the laws continued to be enforced. Considering Alonza was the first person to be tried under the new law, the decision to be judged as an adult was subject to criticism and controversies.

He pleaded guilty to avoid long sentences and, therefore, got thirteen years in an adult prison (Stickup Kid, 2014). This would have a permanent effect on his psychological well-being, and he had a hard time adjusting to the free world after being released. He takes medications to overcome depression, psychosis and other mental issues as he struggled to adapt.
The judgement done on Alonza was not fair because, considering it was the first time the law was being tried out, it should have been lenient because it is evident that the longer the years in an adult prison, the higher the psychological risks. In some ways, the boy’s development ceased at the age of fifteen and is, therefore, a reminder of how the laws can drive us further away from justice.
Works Cited
Stickup Kid. (2014). Available at: https://topdocumentaryfilms.com/stickup-kid/ [Accessed 11 May 2018].