Across the country, experts are debating the fate of a Richmond six-year-old charged with attempted murder in the beating of a newborn baby. What could inspire such a crime? Can a child that young know right from wrong? Is it our responsibility now to punish or rehabilitate him -- and how should we go about either? YO! asked Bay Area teenagers to write a letter to the juvenile court referee in charge of the case, offering their advice on what should be done for and with the youngest child ever to be charged with such a serious crime. The writers are staffmembers and participants in workshops of YO! (Youth Outlook), a newspaper by and about Bay Area teens produced by Pacific News Service. Here is a selection of their responses:

The first thing I would do is sit down, establish a relationship with the child and then begin to talk to him to figure out why he did what he did. I wouldn't put this child in jail, but I wouldn't let him go back to stay with his mother either. If anyone should go to jail, it should be the child's parents, because if they had taught the child right from wrong, he probably wouldn't have done this awful crime in the first place.

I think the judge should help this child instead of punishing him, because there couldn't be too much evil and hate in a six-year-old child. The child had to see it somewhere, or someone showed him or taught him how to do it. The child should be helped so that he will never do this kind of thing again.

-- Welton Hadley

Politicians want to throw the kids away. Some say lock them up, and others don't say anything, which is just as bad. I can remember that at age six, I was just learning about my surroundings. It makes me feel that I'm in an unjust society to think they would throw a kid away at age six.

If this kid goes through the system, he will know nothing but how to do crimes. Is Juvenile a place where he will get the help and attention he needs? Are we concerned about rehabilitation at this point, or punishment? Are we as a community of people waiting to see him burn up, or are we as a community working to get his mind back? Is that our job? Whose job is it? We all have to be the absent parents, I guess, because we are losing too many soldiers -- black, white, Hispanic, Asian -- tomorrow's leaders.

I know what it feels like to be in jail when you are young and don't really know what's going to happen to your life. It's a scary feeling to be in lockdown, with no one you can trust. Even though you've committed a serious crime, you still belong in someone's care.

I used to be violent when I was younger, and I could've been in the same position as this boy, but I had people testifying for me in court. The chance I was given later paid off. See me now -- I'm working to help youth anywhere I can. Don't give up hope for this kid's soul and hope that he is salvageable. Hope is all that's left.

-- Ron Fox

I personally feel that nothing awful should be done to the boy. Considering his age, it's hard to believe that he would do something as evil as beating a baby for pleasure. I just think he needs to be kept away from his mother until an investigation is done. The kind of atmosphere a child is in has a lot to do with his thoughts and actions. The boy needs to be put in a place where understanding adults can help him figure out his feelings and find out what's really going on in his brain, 'cause there has to be something more than just violence in there.

-- Melissa Vargas

As a teenager who has a seven-year old sister, I know that little kids don't usually know what they're doing. My sister, for example, once ripped up my homework because it was on the table where she sat. When asked why she did it, she said, "It was in the way of the TV." It took her a couple of minutes to think of that answer.

Although I don't know the six-year-old kid personally, or his family, I think that he did not understand what he was doing once he started doing it. The reason he gave for what he did -- "The family looked at me wrong" -- I think he must have heard somewhere, and adopted as his own. He should attend many, many one-on-one therapy sessions to HELP him.

-- Martin Gonzalez, John O'Connell Technical High School

If he is locked up for 10 to 15 years, that would take away his child years and he would come out worse than ever. All he would be around is older people who have their own problems and throughout all those years, he would be alone with no one to comfort him, to play with him, and to communicate with him.

-- Anonymous, John O'Connell Technical High School

I think you should change the laws about kids now because kids are getting more violent. If this boy could do this kind of thing at six years old, think of what he would do if he were a grown man. So I think this six-year-old boy should die before he kills more people.

-- Anonymous, John O'Connell Technical High School

I feel that the six-year-old who beat up the newborn should be punished. But I believe that it's not his fault. A child is a reflection of his parents. If this kid was educated with good morals and standards, he would never have done this. This child should be taught that he did something wrong and could have taken a life away. He should be punished in a way that will help him, sent to a place where he will be treated right. I don't believe he should be paddled or killed.

-- Marcos Chacon, Jr., John O'Connell Technical High School

I don't think a person can change, even if they take him to the doctor. I mean, if he thinks it feels good, he will never forget the feeling he had. But if they put him in jail, it would make him madder. He would want to kill someone anyway. I don't think jail would help. He should get counseling help.

-- Tania Prokopaua, John O'Connell Technical High School

Even though I believe a little kid like him deserves a second chance, attempted murder is a really serious offense. This act deserves punishment, but throwing the kid in jail would make him end up worse than when he entered. People there would be older than him and would teach him bad things. You should just send him home and keep him in check. He is too young to spend the rest of his life in jail.

-- Christina Pineda, John J. O'Connell Technical High School

I think there should be an investigation on how this youth was doing in his home. This child might have been neglected, abused, or in a situation that was unbearable. I don't really know this boy's situation, so I couldn't say what should be done with him, but due to the fact that he committed a very serious crime, especially at his age, he should be punished in a serious way.

-- Anonymous, Youth Guidance Center

I feel the child should be let go because he has yet to learn about right and wrong. You have to look at his surroundings and what made him feel the way he did. There has to be a reason. He's not going to go out one day and say, "I feel like killing a newborn baby." Please consider other possibilities of why he might have done what he tried to do. And try to get him some help and a new, peaceful place to live.

-- Anonymous, Youth Guidance Center

I know that what I have to say probably don't mean much to you, but I'm a girl who knows what it's like to be put in a group home at the early age of six. If you put that boy in a group home, he will either run, or grow up even faster with more and more hate. People think that locking that boy up and taking his childhood from him will be the answer, but it will only make him feel like there is nothing he can't face. So my solution is to put him in a locked mental institution where he can learn his fault in what he did and where his anger came from and he can get the right and proper help he needs so he can grow up loving himself.

-- Anonymous, Youth Guidance Center

What would make young children hurt another child? Why do youngsters run the street?

I asked myself these questions again and again after hearing about the child who beat the baby in Richmond. All I come up with is that something is not there for them in the home. Children under 12 should not be in the streets. Children need love and time with an older role model.

If you are an older youth and you see a child or children in the street, give them some of of your time, even if you only take five minutes to ask them how school went. Even that little time may keep them out of trouble. Children nowadays need love from older people, and you could try to give a child the love he or she doesn't get at home.

Maybe all a child that runs the streets needs is that person to look up to. I can't say this enough: Children need to feel love.

-- Jacob Karganilla, Log Cabin Ranch School