KINGSTON, Jamaica—In the wake of what it describes as a “horrifying wave of heartbreaking reports of children being killed”, lobby group Hear The Children’s Cry (HTCC) is calling for an automatic $1 million bounty for child killers.

The group is also repeating its call for harsher penalties generally for child murderers.

HTCC has noted that recent cases include children being targeted in drive-by shootings, shootings in family yards and communities, and suspected gang-related vendettas. It is also repeating its call for increased child safety and longterm training towards positive parenting.

“We are facing a complex of challenges which needs to be addressed on several levels. First, we need stronger penalties. Hear The Children’s Cry is calling for an automatic $1 million bounty on persons who murder children. We must provide far more effective disincentives for child murder,” said HTCC Director Nigel Cooper.

“Child wounding should also reap harsher penalties,” he added.

Cooper said the insights recently shared by the President of the Jamaica Association of Paediatric Surgeons, Dr Simone Dundas Byles 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.

Cooper also points to the “urgent need” to improve parenting in Jamaica, a challenge he said that requires serious funding and longterm planning and execution.

He said, “Also critical, Jamaica needs significant social programmes to change the mindset of our society regarding the welfare, rights and vulnerabilities of children. What exists now is far from adequate. We need well-resourced programmes such as HTCC’s proposed, government supported, 1O-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”.

For her part, HTCC spokesperson, Priscilla Duhaney is proposing that, “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.”

The HTCC directors point out that, “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. And what Jamaica needs right now, is for us to take off the gloves and fight for the survival of our next generation!”