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Citizenship at key stages 1 and 2 (Year 3-6)
Unit 09: Respect for property
Section 1: What are the consequences of crime?
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Objectives |
| Children should learn: |
- that stealing is wrong
- that victims of crime may be affected in a number of ways
- to use their imagination to understand the experiences of others
- to consider the consequences of shoplifting
- about different crimes and the consequences of crime
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Activities |
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Outcomes |
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Children: |
- Tell the class a story about when you or someone you know had something stolen, or use a published story or video clip from a children's drama that features stealing. As a class, the children consider the act of theft and how it affects its victims and others. Encourage them to think about the effects of stealing, eg the inconvenience suffered, what the object meant to the owner, the victim's feelings. Use circle time to discuss children's own experiences as victims of theft. Make a shared list of reasons why it is wrong to steal, and how stealing affects different people. Elicit a range of views. Some children may show concern for a perpetrator facing punishment rather than the victim. Ask them why this is so.
- Use a well-known story to stimulate a discussion about theft, eg in 'Goldilocks and the three bears', Who do the children feel most sorry for? What might happen at the end of the story after Goldilocks has run off? How will the three bears cope? How do they feel about their house being entered? What if there were no more porridge? Who will repair the broken furniture? Translate these concerns to a real-life setting. What would it feel like to be the victim of stealing? Ask the children to think about the emotional consequences of theft as much as the physical ones. They share their thoughts and then write an imaginative piece from the point of view of a victim of theft. The choice of story will vary with the age and interests of the children. A similar activity could be carried out using a television drama.
- Ask the class to consider a situation in which the owner of a small shop is continually being the victim of theft. Why is this happening? Who is responsible, eg is it the fault of the shopkeeper for not having adequate security? How is the shopkeeper affected? What should the shopkeeper do? What options does the shopkeeper have? To what extent do the shopkeeper's options depend on the age and circumstances of the children who commit the crime? The children could work in groups to draw up a questionnaire to find out what local shopkeepers think, and either visit them or invite them into the school.
- The children discuss, from the point of view of both victims and offenders, whether there is any difference between stealing from a corner shop and stealing from a large chain store.
- The class investigates what the punishment for shoplifting is. Invite the local school police liaison officer to visit the school to talk to the children about what happens to those who are caught shoplifting. The children could devise a list of questions before the visit, similar to those they asked shopkeepers.
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- know why it is wrong to steal
- recognise the consequences of stealing for victims
- use their imagination to understand the experiences of others
- know that shoplifting is a crime
- understand that breaking the law results in punishment for the offender and that it affects the victims
- recognise the consequences of crime, for both the victim and the offender
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Points to note |
- This section could be linked with unit 8 'How do rules and laws affect me?'. The first section in unit 8 could be used here.
- This unit provides opportunities to draw on the expert knowledge of the local police. Visits from the police are often more effective when the visiting officer provides expert information, eg about the extent and costs of vandalism or the role of the police in combating crime, rather than giving a crime prevention lecture.
- Link with RE: work on right and wrong.
- The issues in the third activity are addressed in the story 'A problem for Mr and Mrs Shah' in You, Me, Us!, published by the Citizenship Foundation.
- The fifth activity helps children realise the consequences of shoplifting, especially for small shops, where many small stolen items add up to a considerable loss for the shopkeeper. The fact that a chain store can cope more easily means that the consequences are less serious, but the crime is no less wrong.
- The Teacher's guide includes information on the use of visitors in school. It is a good idea for children to prepare for the visit, eg by working out questions to ask.
- This section could be linked with unit 4 'People who help us - the local police', which also addresses crime prevention.
- Link with geography: opportunity for fieldwork to identify local areas prone to crime or vandalism; 1a-c, 2b, 2c, 3d in the key stage 2 programme of study.
- This section could be linked with unit 6 'Developing our school grounds'.
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This unit is divided into sections. Each section contains a sequence of
activities with related objectives and outcomes. You can view this unit by
moving through the sections or print/download the whole unit.
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