Does special treatment of youthful offenders violate the equal protection of the laws clause of the constitution?

When someone wrongs another, a yearning for redress, punishment or retribution naturally springs from the latter. To preserve societal order, those who break the law are put in jail to protect the rest of the citizenry. But what are we to do when the one who breaks the law is a child? How does our criminal justice system treat the juvenile offender? Children, who are supposed to be the future of our country, are locked up and thrown in jain in order to pay debts to society. But society is more sinning than sinned against for if it were otherwise delinquency would be non existent. The State is in a bind. They are to treat all citizens equally under the law. They have to put the child away in order to protect the greater good, however to place the child in a penal institution with adults who have committed crimes does not make sense either. The child\u27s actions are brought about by many other factors that have to be dealt with and treated so that the child will be able to fully understand the extent of his/her actions. How are we to explain to society that we will let one who committed a crime that they will not be detained and instead released back into the mainstream public? Youthful offenders should not be seen as criminals and therefore detention will not help them. While it is true that lessons should be learned and punishment is needed to reinforce the same, it is definitely not in their best interest to detain them in jails with hardened criminals. There are other steps to be taken for their rehabilitation, institutions should be established to help them and the system must protect these children. Leaving the child in jail with other hardened criminals is not going to work to the benefit of the child on the contrary, this may leave adverse effects on the child as the child will not be getting the help that they really need. These alternatives may be the answer to protect our children and ensure that they will be able to become valuable members of society and not remain in the funk of turning to a life of crime. Children are a special sector of society that must be protected they are therefore entitled to special treatment under the law