Group demands $1m bounty for child killers

In the wake of a horrifying spate of child murders and shootings across the island, local child advocacy group Hear The Children's Cry (HTCC) is demanding tougher penalties for those who harm or kill minors, including a $1 million bounty on anyone found guilty of murdering a child.

The organisation is also urging urgent social reform, stronger parenting programmes, and increased vigilance in schools to stem what it calls a growing national crisis.

HTCC director Nigel Cooper said the nation is grappling with a frightening trend -- children being intentionally targeted in drive-by shootings, family feuds, and gang vendettas.

"We are facing a complex of challenges which need to be addressed on several levels. First, we need stronger penalties. Hear The Children's Cry is calling for an automatic million-dollar bounty on persons who murder children. We must provide far more effective disincentives for child murder," he declared.

Cooper also called for harsher punishment for those who wound children, citing disturbing data from Dr Simone Dundas Byles, president of the Jamaica Association of Paediatric Surgeons.

"The insights recently shared are truly heartbreaking: over 450 children under the age of 12 suffered injuries related to violence in 2024 while many cases are believed to have been unreported," he said.

According to HTCC, the violence reflects a deeper social issue that must be tackled through comprehensive parenting and community-development programmes. Cooper noted that Jamaica urgently needs large-scale social interventions to reshape public attitudes towards children's welfare.

"What exists now is far from adequate. We need well-resourced programmes such as HTCC's proposed, government-supported, 10-year Disrupt Poor Parenting Project. We put this forward to the Government months ago, yet we are still awaiting a meeting with the minister of education to discuss this," he added.

HTCC spokesperson Priscilla Duhaney also proposed stronger monitoring systems in schools.

"At the high-school level, each student should have an annual 10-minute check-in with the guidance counsellor during which questions will be asked that could unearth any red flags concerning child abuse, suicidal tendencies, and other problems relating to the student's welfare," she said.

The organisation's directors believe that Jamaica must act with the same urgency it applies to infrastructure maintenance.

"Our Government spends millions on bushing to keep the physical environment clean and safe. Our children need at least a similar investment in our country's future. What Jamaica needs right now is for us to take off the gloves and fight for the survival of our next generation," the directors said.