People Are Sharing First Day Of High School Pics To Try Raise The Age Of Youth Incarceration
"Kids starting Year 7 should be thinking about understanding a new timetable and meeting new teachers, not being separated from their family and sleeping in a concrete cell alone."
People have been sharing photographs of when they were 13 to raise awareness of Australia’s low age of criminal responsibility.
In November, state and territory attorneys general proposed raising the age from 10 to 12, despite the two year increase doing minimal to keep children out of prison. Advocates continue to push for the age of criminal responsibility to be changed to at least 14.
“Many children around the country are heading back to school this week. Some of those kids will be starting ‘big school’ — and preparing for their first day in Year 7,” said advocacy group Raise the Age in a statement on Monday.
“Imagine if instead of dropping your child off for their first day of high school, you were dropping them off for their first day in prison. Instead of trying to make new friends and find a new classroom, they are strip searched and assigned a concrete cell.”
Statistics released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare last year revealed that there were nearly 800 kids aged 10 and older in youth detention on an average night between April and June 2020. Just under half of those detained in this period were Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, despite Indigenous people forming six percent of the Australian population aged between 10 and 17.
“Kids starting Year 7 should be thinking about understanding a new timetable and meeting new teachers, not being separated from their family and sleeping in a concrete cell alone,” said Raise the Age.
The trending hashtag #MeAt13 is being used to share throwback pics, alongside what people loved doing back at that age, to draw attention to the hundreds of kids who will spend time behind bars instead of a desk.
Members of the National Justice Project team at 13 years old. Let’s be clear we believe 13 is too young for kids to be sent to prison. They belong in school, not in prisons. It’s time for Australia to #RaiseTheAge to at least 14. #RaiseTheAge #MeAt13 pic.twitter.com/H7AqKhTwrG
— Nat. Justice Project (@NJP_Au) January 30, 2022
This is me and my two brothers 👇🏿
We are Aboriginal. Growing up we were targeted by police – criminalized. Kids – belong in community with our family and thriving in culture – not in prison. #RaiseTheAge to at least 14 @DjirraVIC @Change_Record #MeAt13 pic.twitter.com/OrWJVmxz1n— Antoinette Braybrook (@BraybrookA) January 31, 2022
This is #MeAt13 (probably actually 12) when I wanted to be an elf (had just read lord of the rings, who'd've guessed). All kids deserve to spend this time imagining and playing and being in the free world. #RaiseTheAge No child should ever be imprisoned, we're better than that. pic.twitter.com/tasdEjVbCG
— PhD-Bee (Phoebe Matich) (@phoebe_matich) January 31, 2022
This is #MeAt13 – Full of interesting fashion choices and Facebook posts about One Direction. A kid. Certainly did not belong in prison. We must #RaiseTheAge to at LEAST 14 and keep kids out of prison and with their community. https://t.co/kaRnbnCtht@Dom_Perrottet pic.twitter.com/u14eYVtLzK
— Mads Prakash (@mads_sp) January 30, 2022
This is #MeAt13 – rocking hair ribbons that matched my school uniform. Mind boggling that governments across Australia lock up children as young as 10 every day. Children belong in schools – not prison cells. Time is overdue to #RaiseTheAge to at least 14 years old. @rightsagenda pic.twitter.com/92kr92H8FF
— Monique Hurley (@monique_hurley) January 31, 2022
Photo Credit: National Justice Project/Twitter