Citizenship at key stage 4    (Year 10-11)

• Pupils brainstorm the types of crime they think occur most frequently in their neighbourhood. They compare their views with those of the wider local community, using local authority community safety audit results and local crime statistics. If appropriate, pupils could also compile a questionnaire and conduct their own survey of members of the school and wider community - both adults and young people.
• Ask pupils to compare actual crime figures with statistics on fear of crime and discuss why there is a difference between them.
• Invite a member of the Community Safety Team from the local council or a police representative to visit the school. This visitor could answer questions that pupils have been unable to resolve through their research and could support the pupils in the other activities in this section.
• Pupils consider which crimes, in their opinion, are most likely to involve young people, either as offenders or victims. Is there a difference between crimes committed by males and those committed by females? They compare their perceptions with information provided by their expert visitor or local crime statistics. They examine the local community plan to see what actions are being taken to address these issues, and they identify what other actions the local authority is taking in response to national government policy on crime prevention and reduction.
• Pupils could make recommendations to the local authority on how it could involve young people in addressing community safety priorities.
• Extension activities:
• pupils could undertake a project on ways of reducing crime or fear of crime
• pupils could establish a Youth Action Group, perhaps involving key stage 3 pupils, or, through Primary Action, they could support a group for pupils from a primary school

• In small groups, pupils discuss and list the reasons why young people become involved in car-related crime and the sorts of crimes committed.
• Using video materials and newspaper reports, pupils look at how car crime is reported locally and nationally, including joyriding or 'TWOC' (taking without consent).
• Ask pupils to consider the consequences of specific cases of car crime. They could use newspaper accounts and police reports of real crimes or fictitious scenarios. They identify who is affected and how, eg the owner of a stolen car, a victim of a road accident, relatives of victims, police and fire officers, paramedics and hospital staff, witnesses, magistrates, insurance companies. Some pupils may have personal or family experiences of the consequences of car crime that are relevant at this point.
• In groups, pupils research, eg through interviews, writing to the organisations, using libraries and the internet, the roles and viewpoints of one of: the police, the fire service, the ambulance service, Victim Support, magistrates, Youth Offending Teams (YOTs). The groups report back to the rest of the class, explaining the impact of juvenile car crime from that person's or service's point of view.
• If possible, arrange for representatives of these services to visit the school. The session could take the form of short presentations by the visitors, a 'carousel' with pupils 'circulating' round a range of experts, hot seating, expert witness sessions in which pupils ask questions, or a combination of these approaches.

• The pupils now extend their research to find out what happens when a young person is arrested and charged with a crime such as TWOC. Who is involved? What are the procedures? If possible, arrange for them to meet police officers and court officials, to go through each stage in detail. Pupils may use websites or television programmes to look at police station or court scenes. Each group could focus on a different stage in the procedure, or different scenarios, examining whether outcomes vary according to the offender's age.
• The groups report back to the class on their findings about the experiences of a young person charged with a car crime. This can be in the form of a display, written or oral presentations, a drama sketch or role play. Pupils could use role play to put across the viewpoints of different people in the case, as well as demonstrating what the various procedures involve.
• Ask pupils to reflect, individually and in groups, on their learning and their participation in the activities. They give and receive feedback, identifying the extent to which their knowledge and understanding have increased and how their skills of enquiry and communication have developed through the activities. If they have become involved in activities such as Youth Action Groups, how has this increased their skills of participation and responsible action?
• Discuss or debate the role of punishment in the justice system.
• Ask pupils in groups to write a mock front page for a local newspaper, with a headline that makes an impact. Give each group a different brief, eg to sympathise with the victim, to write from the offender's point of view, to produce a balanced article. Pupils use desktop publishing where possible.
• Hold sessions on the responsibilities of young drivers, the law as it applies to young drivers and the implications of car ownership.