Some children who are prosecuted in juvenile crimes court mistakenly believe that what happens to them there is not all that serious because the worst that the judge can do is put them into a detention facility for several months depending upon the severity of their offense.
Such children are often in for a rude awakening if they are later prosecuted in adult court because they then find out for the first time that juvenile crimes offenses committed up to three years before their adult offense are included on their sentencing guideline scoresheet. And that is important because the more offenses that a person has listed on his scoresheet, the more severe is his potential sentence in adult court.
This is just one reason why children (and the parents of children) who are prosecuted in juvenile court should take their case seriously.