Will this kid be tortured?

[dballance]

23. 19 Is a Number Marking Passage of Time. It Has Nothing to Do With Actual Maturity.

Knowing what we know today about brain development it's foolish to classify every person who reaches a certain age as an "adult." Yet that's what we do. Science has proven that the human frontal lobes of the brain, responsible for higher-order thinking and for risk/reward thinking doesn't fully develop until the mid-20's. So a 19 year-old is really not much more mature in their thinking than 12 year-old. The older brother, who was 26, really has no excuse. But it's highly likely that the older brother, for societal/familial reasons and because of the biological reasons I've stated, had undue influence over the younger brother.

I'm not saying the 19 year-old shouldn't be held responsible. He should be. He most certainly knew blowing people up is considered bad. I'm just saying he was easier to lead astray, particularly by his brother, than he would have been were he older.