Petition Raise the age of criminal conviction from 10 years old

The current age in which children can be convicted and imprisoned in a Youth Offenders Institute is 10 years old. This is too young, a child of 10 years old being taken away from their family and society and imprisoned.

Studies show a child's brain fully develops at 25,prior to this children are not consistent in:
Decision making
Use of appropriate judgement
Rational thinking
Integration of emotion and critical thinking

All of these factors indicate children should not be held fully accountable for their actions and a change needs to be made.

One third of the children who come to the attention of the criminal justice system re-offend within 1 year, with help and support instead of conviction this statistic will change. With limited funding we need to expose this problem and raise awareness in order to make a change in a practical way.

We urge the public to sign this E-petition and raise awareness in hope a change can be made.