Jump Up &Down 4 Kids

Early this year,  Australian Human Rights Commissioner Gillian Triggs lamented that she could not understand why more Australians were not “jumping up and down” about the policy of keeping children locked up in immigration detention.

She believed that if Australians really knew the impact on children of being in these places, they would not accept it happening.

Since then, tens of thousands of Australians who don’t accept that children should be kept in conditions that cause them serious harm have ‘jumped’ up and down in protest.

jump vinniesThe Catholic Education Office Sydney is leading the Jumping Up & Down 4 Kids campaign and has been joined by many Catholic agencies and groups, including:

  • National Catholic Education Commission
  • St Vincent de Paul New South Wales and SPARK volunteers
  • Mercy Works and Mercy Works volunteers
  • Caritas Australia
  • National Catholic Women’s League
  • Catholic Education Offices in Parramatta and Wollongong
  • Australian Catholic University.

It also has the support of major advocacy groups including the UNHCR Canberra, Jesuit Social Ministries, Edmund Rice Centre, Caritas, Catholic Mission, Chilout and more.

Campaign director Virginia Francis says:

“We can’t – we won’t – stand by knowing that children’s basic rights are being denied. This is not about complex immigration issues. It’s about children, and you don’t have to be a human rights lawyer to know what’s happening is wrong.

“We’ve heard compelling evidence of,  and there is consistent reporting about, the harm that indefinite detention causes physically, psychologically, developmentally and emotionally. For those of us working in the area of education and counselling we know that even for those children who have been released, there is work to be done healing the damage.”

Do you want to ‘jump up and down’ for this issue and contribute to a wider voice for children who need protection?

Here’s the call to action for individuals and communities across Australia:

Keeping children in prison-like conditions is not only hurting them, it is hurting us all. All children, regardless of where they come from have a right to play, learn and feel safe.

How you can help

It is very easy. Just ask as many people as possible in your community and networks, anyone – to jump up and down. Then,

  1. take a video or photo of them jumping up and down, then
  2. post the video or photo on Twitter using the hashtag #jumping4kids,(You can follow at @Jumping4Kids) and/or share it on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jump-UpDown-4-Kids/1504561866496496 …and/or
  3. upload it onto You Tube (include some tags like Jump Up&Down 4 kids, children in detention,refugees, asylum seekers, Nauru, Christmas Island, WBBTAUS ) and
  4. go to the Facebook page Jump Up&Down 4 Kids and like & share the page
  5. write a one liner or short post with your photo/video to say why you are jumping 4 kids’ rights.

No fundraising, no petitions, just jump! Be creative. Start thinking about where and how you experience jumping in your everyday activities and /or sphere of influence.

The campaign also has its own anthem, launched in October: Jump is performed by X Factor finalist  Jacinta Gulisano and produced by Philippe Marc Alquetil (former song coach for One Direction and Little Birdie) and features Australians of all ages and from all walks of life ‘jumping up and down’ about the injustice of keeping children in detention.

Watch the video: it’s had over 13.5k views already!

The national mood is shifting with peak professional groups and agencies continuing to speak out for the rights of children.

Follow the campaign:

Facebook: Jump UP&Down 4 Kids

Twitter: @Jumping4Kids

Use the hashtag #jumping4kids

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