Final answer:
Juveniles can be tried as adults from as young as 14 to 16 years old, depending on state laws, with the aim to address the problem of serious crimes committed by minors and the failure of juvenile facilities to rehabilitate them.
Step-by-step explanation:
The age at which a juvenile can be tried as an adult varies by state in the United States, and there is no one-size-fits-all answer; it typically ranges from as young as 14 to 16 years old. However, in some exceptional cases, younger minors could be tried as adults, depending on the nature of the crime and the state's laws. This decision arises from a problem with increasing numbers of juveniles committing serious crimes and the observed failure of juvenile detention facilities to effectively rehabilitate young offenders, thereby contributing to some youths continuing their life of crime. As a solution, trying juveniles as adults has been proposed and enacted in various jurisdictions as a legal approach to address these challenges and to act as a deterrent against future offenses.