Disturbing reports of school violence (Brown, 1999; Davis, 1994; Kaufman et al., 1998; Kenney & Watson, 1992; U.S. Department of Justice, 1993; Woo, 1993) have educators wondering what they can do to help students gain a greater understanding of the law and the consequences of illegal behavior.
Public debates and debates within professional education communities about how to deal with school violence have yielded several possible solutions: counseling, character education, more attention to individual students, early identification of troubled students, and even installation of metal detectors to increase school security. Another solution is education about the law.
What Is Law-Related Education?
Law-related education has been an important part of the social studies curriculum in U.S. schools for the past 40 years. Teachers and bar associations have had an interest in ensuring that the public learns about the law, a crucial element of society in the United States. Approximately 21 states have programs sponsored by bar associations or law-related education agencies to provide support and training for lawyers and law-enforcement officials serving as volunteer resource persons in classrooms. Together, the volunteers and social studies teachers educate students about U.S. law through a combination of standard instruction and such interactive activities as role-play and classroom debates (Hess, 1997).
The teachers receive training in legal issues, and the volunteer lawyers or police officers learn interactive strategies that will help students develop positive attitudes toward the law and the judicial system.
Lawyers recognize the important role that they play in ensuring comprehensive teaching of the law in the classroom. In my study of how lawyers and teachers perceive law-related education (Hanson, 2000), lawyers said that they would like to give their time and skills, without charge, to the community; they welcome a chance to explain the law to students. Through their daily interactions with clients, many of these lawyers already have some knowledge of the teaching strategies that are effective in law-related education.
By teaching law through various forms of law-related education, teachers and lawyers can introduce the ethical and operational questions that the traditional social studies curriculum often leaves out (Nelson, 1991). The interactive approach helps students grasp the moral ideas behind the law through critical thinking, not through rote memorization.
What Will Students Learn from Law-Related Education?
Most people stay out of trouble and follow social norms because they have bonds with family members, coworkers, schoolmates, church members, and so forth. If these institutional and personal connections fail, a person may bond with peers who also feel alienated from home, school, or society. Unfortunately, these relationships may be negative and may reward antisocial behavior.
- Commitment. As students begin to appreciate law-related education, they commit themselves to valued and lawful activities.
- Attachment. Through regular association, students develop an attachment to their schools, their teachers, and the volunteer lawyers or police officers.
- Involvement. Because law-related education deals with the world outside of school, teachers and volunteers encourage students to participate in activities beyond sports and other entertainments.
- Belief. By thinking critically about human behavior and the laws governing that behavior, students come to believe in the importance of laws and rules.
- Equality. Students have equal opportunities to participate regardless of their past accomplishments.
- Association. Students are able to associate with positive role models and nondelinquent peers (Davis & Hunter, 1984).
Teachers and resource persons should integrate all these elements into law-related education instruction. When all these elements are in place, law-related education should "increase the probability of association with nondelinquent (rather than delinquent) peers and in turn reduce the likelihood of delinquent behaviors" (Davis & Hunter, 1984, p. 4).
In the 30 years that I have worked with law-related education, students have responded with excitement and interest to questions of law. An exciting discussion about a controversial topic can be the breath of fresh air that makes the law come alive in the classroom. Students see the consequences of their actions as never before.
Law-Related Education at Work
In High School
When I was preparing a 12th grade government class for a mock trial, I invited a prosecuting attorney for the State of Illinois to come to the classroom and tell the students how he prepares for trial. While we were waiting for the escorted lawyer to come from the principal's office, the students were complaining about how school expulsions always occur when students fight, no matter who starts it. Most students said that they would always use self-defense and hit back if another student hit them. Although I let my students debate school rules, I tried my best to convince them that fighting back only leads to more violence. Although I could not persuade students to take a more passive approach, the guest speaker did.
When the young attorney arrived, he gave a detailed description of what he does to prepare for trial. To illustrate the process, he told the class about an assault and battery case. Because the person struck had hit back and had done great physical harm, our visitor speculated that the defense attorney would not use what he called the "self-defense" strategy. The visiting attorney said that hitting back was, by and large, revenge.
I heard the proverbial pin drop. Every eye was on the speaker. One by one, students objected to his comment, but the attorney held his ground. He defined self-defense as running away, protecting oneself by putting up one's arms, or moving quickly out of the way. He looked at the class and said,Don't ever hit back. If you do, I can't say you were acting in self-defense, unless you blocked his punches. You may have created a battery misdemeanor situation for yourself.
Students' attitudes changed that day. By enriching students with legal knowledge through interactive discussion and debate, the lawyer was able to expose the fallacy of the self-defense myth, even if he didn't shatter the myth completely.
In Middle School
I have seen law-related education have similar effects on middle school students. One 5th grade class learned more about the U.S. Bill of Rights and its importance than I had thought possible. In this case, two lawyers had helped the students prepare a mock trial. The cross-examination of one witness was going to be the focal point of the defense's case.
The student lawyer had written several questions to ask the witness, but when it came time to cross-examine, the judge excused the witness. The judge then asked the prosecution to call the next witness. The 5th grade defense attorney jumped to her feet and said, "Your Honor! Don't I get to cross-examine? Your Honor, this is in the Bill of Rights! How can anyone have a fair trial if you can't question witnesses?" The judge, who was a trial court judge in Ohio, apologized repeatedly for denying the cross-examination and immediately recalled the witness. By using life-like situations, this student learned more about the value and importance of the Bill of Rights than she would have in a classroom that just reviewed the rights in class.
In Elementary School
Engaging younger children in law-related education requires a different approach. For grades K–3, a law-related education agency prepared a coloring book with pages showing police officers at work. One officer used the coloring book to show students the numerous ways in which the police serve the community, and students learned to think beyond the stereotype of a police officer catching bad guys and using violence.
In Simulations at All Level
Simulations open up opportunities for students to experience first-hand the problems of law and law enforcement. At the 7th–9th grade levels, for example, the "Police Patrol" simulation in the book Youth and Police (Constitutional Rights Foundation, 1997) educates students about what law enforcement officers do. During this simulation, students act as police officers for a traffic stop, a domestic dispute, and a shoplifting incident. A volunteer police officer critiques the students and suggests how a real officer would have handled each situation. I will never forget one sheriff's admonishment—"Ladies, if your boyfriend hits you once, he will hit you again. Men, if your girlfriend hits you once, she will hit you again"—which led to a discussion about domestic violence. As the sheriff shared his stories, I saw attitudes about how police officers operate change among the students.
On the lighter side, a copyright attorney and a law-related education teacher can work together to help students understand copyright and patent infringements. First, students in small groups discuss and try to answer questions about copyright: May a rock band play a copyrighted song after the members have memorized the music? May I download a copyrighted Web page? May I download my favorite rock song from the Internet? After each group reports its answers to the class, the copyright attorney responds as if the group were a client and advises students about what they may or may not do. I have seen students' attitudes change from "I am not going to sell it so should be able to copy it" to a deeper understanding of intellectual property rights.
In general, the most successful law-related education classes are those that combine best practices for quality instruction of any subject—checking for understanding, teaching to objectives, team learning—with practices that are particularly effective for law-related education, including adept handling of student debate around controversial legal issues, effective interactive activities, and frequent use of prepared outside resource persons (Davis & Hunter, 1984).
Preparing to Teach Law-Related Education
If teachers want to include law-related education in a social studies curriculum, they should first participate in law-related education training. Throughout the year, bar associations and other law-related education agencies sponsor conferences and workshops that allow teachers to learn about law-related education materials and court cases, participate in role plays and simulations, and meet lawyers and police officers who are willing to serve as resource persons in the classroom. The Constitutional Rights Foundation Chicago Web site (www.crfc.org) provides a wealth of resources, including lesson plans (in English, French, and Spanish) and links to state bar associations and agencies involved in law-related education. The book Street Law (Arbetman & O'Brien, 1999) is an excellent resource for teachers who want to develop interactive classroom activities with a visiting lawyer.
A survey of law-related education teachers in southern Illinois found that many teachers who attended an awareness workshop were able to further train themselves by reading and experimentation (Solliday, 1983). Their common concerns were keeping current with Supreme Court cases and finding new ideas about teaching law to use in the classroom.
For law-related education to be effective, teachers must plan more than two or three activities in one or two classes. Three years of intensive law-related education activities integrated into the curriculum for grades 5–12 is the most effective approach for developing positive attitudes toward the law (Hunter, 1991).
Finding a Law-Related Education Resource Person
When looking for law-related education resource persons, educators may first ask their students whether they have family members who are lawyers, police officers, or judges. The best source of law-related education resource persons, however, is often a local bar association or a law-related education agency. Lawyers often volunteer to talk to classes through these organizations.
If the volunteer is untrained, the teacher must provide training and opportunities for the resource person to observe the interactive nature of law-related education. As one law-related education trainer advises, "Don't let the lawyers talk too much; let the students talk." When resource persons facilitate discussions, they enable students to see the conflicts and evaluate their options. With guidance, K–12 students become thinking citizens, able to anticipate consequences and make better choices by using their reasoning powers.
Living in a Law-Based Society
A good motto for this teaching approach is "Follow the law—it's good for your Constitution!" As students think through the choices that they make every day, they need to understand how the law works. When teachers bring law-related education to the classroom, students learn to think about the law and its principles, the U.S. Constitution, and the rights and responsibilities of those who participate in a democratic society.
