Should juvenile offenders be tried and punished as adults?

Let's begin through examination of this question;   If a juvenile is grown enough to commit an adult crime, he / she should be grown enough to encounter the consequences of his / her adult-like actions.   Yet knowing how I feel about children, let's step back for a moment and find out why our youths are in such turmoil.  I know every year someone publishes comprehensive studies about this issue and what is being done.   Think about the cases that do not get reported! 

We need to reach out to youth before trouble starts and how do we accomplish this?   We do have programs in place that are very successful yet it doesn't reach all youth due to funding.   I believe if there are programs for the youth they are already caught up in crime and a program to prevent youth from getting into crime.   This would reduce the number of juvenile offenders.  So as we are working with the youth, we must find ways to promote and build on the youth's strengths and interests instead of focusing on the youth problems.  Get the families involved (maybe counseling), community and funding.    We all say we will help our youth yet are we talking the talk or walking the walk?   When was the last time you made a difference in a child's life?