Stop thief! Engaging young people with the law

In this article from the Summer 2005 issue of Directions Margaret Walsh (University of Wolverhampton) describes some initiatives aimed at encouraging young people to come to university.

The Black Country is an area of considerable economic deprivation and social exclusion, as well as lower than average educational attainment. The law team at Wolverhampton believes that increasing children’s familiarity with university is paramount to increasing their participation, and is involved in three initiatives aimed at young people.

The Children’s University

The Children’s University is an event aimed at year 10 pupils from local schools. The children come into the university for half a day and are given information about what it is like to study there, why it is fun and why they should consider it. They also take part in mini lectures. One, with the title Murder Most Horrid, consists of getting the children to think about who is most likely to be the victim of a murder. Although it sounds a little grisly, it is exactly the type of thing young children are fascinated by, and enables them to feel that the subjects studied at university are both interesting and something that they could participate in. It also shows them that university is really just like school, but on a bigger scale.

For a little light relief the children also look at different cartoon scenarios and are asked to identify the crimes being committed, for example vandalism or burglary. This is a useful icebreaker to some real law, where matters such as the copyright of logos and returning purchases to a shop are covered.

The Learn-in

The Learn-in, an annual event on a much bigger scale than the Childrens University, is designed both to engage with local secondary schools and to increase the knowledge of young people about university. In 2004 18 local schools and over 150 children were involved, with 15 workshops on subjects ranging from dance and drama to law and forensics.

The Learn-in was held over Friday evening and Saturday until lunchtime with a sleepover. The children brought sleeping bags and slept in their groups in various sections of the learning centre – this was seen as essential in communicating the university experience! The event took a lot of organisation, but similar shorter day sessions could be held by modifying the Wolverhampton model.

The law workshop was entitled Crimewatch Black Country. Experience from the Children’s University had taught us crime was a big seller, and it was the most popular workshop at the Learn-in in terms of the number of children who placed it as their first choice. We started with a session entitled It’s the law, an icebreaker designed to get the children to think about how the law affects us all. They worked in groups of four, each supported by an adult, and were given the task of thinking of examples of where and how the law affects us.

One session was based around mobile phone theft – something I think which was very dear to their hearts! The highlight of the evening was my mobile phone being stolen. Having arranged to get a call, the phone thief was to burst in and grab the phone. The children were remarkably calm, with some even suggesting that I go after the thief, and they were surprised to learn it was a set up. Their interest was kept up by holding a photo identification parade of 10 people, including the thief, all wearing the same outfit. Only one child out of the 16 spotted the correct thief. It was a very clear illustration to them of how difficult it is to be sure that you have picked out the right person in situations such as a robbery, where you only have a fleeting glance at the robber.

Later we held a workshop where the children discussed what we should do with the phone thief. A simple presentation on sentencing options put this into a legal context, including the problems with deciding seriousness with mid range offences was and whether the thief should go to prison.

The high point of the morning was getting the children to act out in fours a mock trial of a mobile phone theft. The children had gowns and wigs, with a long wig for the judge (overlooking the fact that the crime would probably be in the magistrates court with no wig in sight).

Bullying Courts

Our latest initiative has tackled subject of bullying, linking this both to law and to university. I have held a number of sessions with year 6 children from a local primary school, covering bullying and its types in a presentation with input from the children about their experiences. I researched this primarily through Internet sources, contacting both Childline and Kidscape for advice.

Working in groups of four again the children constructed a bullying scenario and agreed on a penalty. The children then acted out the trial and agreed a penalty. I explained to them what happens in court, dealing with sanctions and penalties.

The key point of the session was to get the children to think about bullying and to emphasise its seriousness – for example, if an adult stole or punched another person it would be a crime.

I hope by linking this to law it increases their interest, reassuring them that university is something they should consider and that it is not just ‘for posh people’.

The Department for Education has requested a meeting to discuss this initiative further as part of their programme on improving behaviour in schools.

Our small steps are not going to affect the overall figures of numbers going on to university, but we hope that as a result of these initiatives some young people will consider university as an option. Despite all the bad press of courses facing possible closure and graduates not getting jobs it remains the case that on average those who attend university will earn more than those who do not. But for me it is not about that but about having more choice – getting a degree opens up career paths that would not otherwise be available.

Last Modified: 4 June 2010