system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
I think calling Trayvon Martin a child was nothing but an appeal to emotion. CMV

First, please understand that I started out on the "Zimmerman is guilty" bandwagon, but now I don't think I'll ever have enough knowledge of what happened to have an opinion on whether or not GZ should be in jail. But even when I was 100% on TM's side, I thought calling him a child was a stretch. Yes, I understand that he was legally a child, but he was physically an adult and a match for GZ. I feel like people who say GZ "killed a child" only want to make it sound like he allegedly stalked and shot a 10-year-old.
gpt
There are two points. The first is that, legally, Trayvon martin was considered a child in the state of Florida. Thus, calling him a child in the context of a *criminal law proceeding* makes plenty of sense. It is, after all, entirely correct. 

Second, the very fact that the legal definition of a child was written to encompass people under the age of 18 suggests that there is, in fact, a social consensus that such people are generally regarded as being children. 

Third, highlighting the fact serves to illustrate an important fact that is relevant to analyzing the case: Namely that Zimmerman is of an age that he is expected to behave rationally, an age that we socially recognize as being the age of majority, the age in which we are capable of making adult decisions. Meanwhile, Trayvon was of an age that we regard as being *less* rational, less adult, and generally less responsible. This distinction is highly relevant for assigning culpability in the face of the events that transpired. To ignore this fact would, if anything, be more disingenuous than highlighting it.