TEN IS TOO YOUNG FOR PRISON
In just one year across Australia close to 600 children aged 10 to 13 years were locked up and thousands more were hauled through the criminal legal system. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are disproportionately impacted by these laws and pushed into prison cells at even higher rates, accounting for 65% of these younger children in prisons. Children need to be loved and supported so they can reach their full potential. Not locked up.
Raise The Age does amazing work petitioning the government to change laws about the age young people can be put into prison. In July 2019 there was a big push for people to sign the petition before the bill was put forward. The thought of children, some as young as 10 years old, behind prison bars made my stomach turn. These are not bars for children. Bars for children include; Muesli Bars, Monkey Bars and Mars Bars.
