Stalking, reckless endangerment, and burglary are all juvenile offenses. These juvenile offenses almost always remain on the juvenile's criminal record, and offenses displayed on a juvenile's criminal record can cause employers, educators, and other authority figures to think less of the juvenile offender. As the viewer can see, this one mistake or lapse in judgment can ruin young offenders' chances of succeeding in life. For example, juvenile delinquents may not get the dream job they always wanted, get into the college they always wanted, or be eligible for a scholarship, whether whether it is athletic or academic. However, there is a loophole in the juvenile justice system called youth courts. Youth courts give second chances to first-time and some repeat offenders because the offenses do not appear on their criminal record, and their peers can decide what sanctions the juvenile offender receives or carries out. The big question I will address throughout this essay is: Do young offenders who appear in youth court reoffend? Based on my research, the hypothesis that youth courts help young offenders reoffend less appears to be true; recidivism refers to the tendency to reoffend. The first part of my research involved interviewing my father who is a juvenile probation officer, and my father truly believes that youth courts help offenders stay away from crime. He told me a memorable story related to this topic, about a girl named Sarah who was caught with marijuana. About a month after Sarah was arrested for possession of marijuana, she appeared in youth court and pleaded guilty to the charge of possession of marijuana. A girl named Jessica who didn't like Sarah was one of the jurors in middle of paper...... of the juvenile's criminal record after he admitted to committing the crime, and the offenders were able to learn about the system juvenile justice. Works Cited Butts Jeffrey A. and Jennifer Ortiz. Youth courts: do they work and why? NYSBA Journal. January 2011. PP 18-21. Dick, Andrew J, Randall M. Jones, and Reed Geersten. Self-reported delinquency among adolescent court participants. Journal for Juvenile Justice and Detention Services. Volume 18. No. 1. Spring 2013. PP 33-49. Essig, Chris. Participants say Teen Court produces positive results. www.galesburg.com. Internet. April 24, 2014. Forgays, Deborah K. Three years of results for adolescent offenders in court. Adolescence. Flight. 43. No. 171, Fall 2008. PP 474-489. Voss, Brenda and Kelly Vannan. A jury of your peers: Recidivism among adolescents who participate in court. Juvenile Justice Journal. Vol 3. Issue 1. Autumn 2013.