KIDS BATTLE POLICE! KIDS BATTLE POLICE!

Most of the time, this headline would end in tragedy. But in this case, "Kids battle police" is actually the beginning of a GOOD story.

In a video captured by a coordinator of the commissariat for refugees in Serbia, refugee children get into a snowball fight with a member of the local police.

The laughter and fun had by the children (and the police officer who gamely fends of his attackers and throws a few himself) is infectious. The idea that a police officer, who is all too often a symbol of repressive brutality, engages with these kids fleeing their war torn homes is heart warming.

It is a visible reminder that people from everywhere are the same. Put some snow on the ground, send kids outside (in appropriately warm clothing please) and the inevitable snowball fight will break out.

Europe is facing its largest influx of refugees since World War II. The political debates over how to deal with these refugees has fluctuated from the empathetic to the obscene and at times to the utter ridiculous.

These kids and this police officer have the perfect answer: get to know each other. Even if that is accomplished by receiving a snowball in the face.

The world must step up to welcome the refugees. These kids deserve a future they can throw snowballs and attend school. And a future where they can warm up (or cool down in the summer) from their playtime outside in a home with their family. They deserve a world where extreme poverty no longer exists, and they have access to the tools to make a better life for themselves and their families.

You can make that world a reality by making the Global Goals your New Year’s Resolution in TAKE ACTION NOW.

Oh, and if you’re lucky enough to be near snow, go out and throw a few snowballs with some friends and remember these kids are just like you, and they deserve a future just like you do.

Editorial

Demand Equity

Kids “battle” police in refugee camp-and it’s beautiful

By Brandon Blackburn-Dwyer