Adam Benforado

Advances in psychology, neuroscience, sociology, and public health have provided us with an ability unparalleled in human history to understand and protect children. But we have not seized the moment. This is a moral problem, but it’s also an economic and social one: by failing our children today, we doom ourselves in the years ahead. The root cause of nearly every major challenge we face—from crime to poor health to poverty—can be found in our mistreatment of children. But in that sobering truth is also the key to changing our fate as a nation. We must reform our world—our institutions, our laws, our business practices, our parenting—to put children first.

Democracy does not work if people directly affected by an election’s outcome are not allowed to participate. Inaction on climate change or educational debt will have little direct impact on someone who is ninety, but potentially life-changing consequences for someone who is fourteen. So why doesn’t that young person get to vote? It’s time to question your assumptions. Drawing together fascinating insights from history, psychology, and law, Benforado makes a compelling case for why we need to recognize that children should have a voice in government—as voters, jurors, and office holders—as well as a greater voice in the home and at school.

As a WHO-UNICEF-Lancet Commission recently concluded, “many enterprises” continue to believe that “considering child well-being in their decisions and actions” is “irrelevant or inimical to their activities.” That mindset among corporate leadership presents a dire threat to young people around the world, but it also significantly inhibits the long-term profitability of companies. In this talk, Benforado offers powerful evidence for why business leaders ought to adopt a new outlook for the sake of shareholders, kids, and all of the rest of us.

To address egregious failures in our criminal justice system our best hope is to adopt an evidence-based approach, embracing progress and replacing gut instinct with empirically-derived best practices for our legal actors. But how bold should we be in our reforms? If cognitive biases are a significant source of costly mistakes and deep unfairness, should we rely less on human decision making? In a provocative address, Benforado asks listeners to consider the decades ahead. Will virtual courtrooms be designed to eliminate bias become the norm? Will we one day rely on algorithms to weigh evidence and assess guilt?

Our system of justice is fundamentally broken, but not for the reasons we tend to think. As Benforado argues in this eye-opening, galvanizing lecture, even if the system operated exactly as it was designed to, we would still end up with wrongful convictions, trampled rights, and unequal treatment. This is because the roots of injustice lie not inside the dark hearts of racist police officers, corrupt judges, or dishonest prosecutors, but within the minds of each and every one of us. Weaving together historical examples, scientific studies, and compelling court cases, Benforado shows how our judicial processes fail to uphold our values and protect society’s weakest members. With clarity and passion, he lays out the scope of the legal system’s dysfunction and proposes a wealth of practical reforms that could prevent injustice and help us achieve true fairness and equality before the law.