CECsst.239 TITLE: DOING CRIME=DOING TIME: JUVENILE CONSEQUENCES FOR BREAKING THE LAW AUTHOR: NANCY M. HEWLETT, RADER CENTER - NEW START; SAND SPRINGS, OKLAHOMA GRADE LEVEL/SUBJECT: 6-12 This lesson is appropriate in Civics, Government, History, and Law, at Middle School through High School. It is especially recommended for use prior to participation in programs such as Operation Aware. OVERVIEW This is a one day lesson intended as an introduction to a unit on juvenile law or consequences of breaking the law. OBJECTIVE(s): As a result of this lesson, students will: 1. Recognize that everyone is responsible for his/her own actions and the consequences of those actions. 2. Recognize possible consequences of juvenile crime. 3. Analyze whether there should be set penalties for offenders. MATERIALS/RESOURCES: Chalkboard Appendix I: Survey Appendix II: Doing Crime, Doing Time ACTIVITIES AND PROCEDURES: Time Required: One to two class periods are required for this lesson. 1. Distribute and ask students to complete "Appendix I: Survey." Poll students on how many were able to check 25 activities? 18? 2. Next, explain that the survey was compiled by residents at the Rader Intensive Treatment Center in Sand Springs, Oklahoma. This facility is one of the juvenile correctional facilities and juveniles have been placed here by the Court. These are the activities they miss everyday - in addition to missing their family and friends. 3. Now ask the following question and discuss: Why would the state restrict your: phone calls? Junk food? Tobacco products? Visits from friends and family? Supervise your eating? Sleeping? Free time activities? The answers to most of these questions will be: a. Protection of society from the resident (delinquent). b. Protecting the resident from himself or the other residents. 4. Ask the following questions and discuss: "Do you know anyone doing the same things for which these people have been locked up - (assault, auto theft, dealing drugs)?" "How would you feel if the court put you in an institution?" 5. Ask the students to name as many possible consequences as they can for breaking the law. Encourage them to be creative. Ask them to come up with consequences and write then across the top of the chalkboard encouraging students to define the severity of the consequences by placing each one on a scale with the lesser punishments on the left and graduating to the maximum punishment/penalty - death penalty on the far right (See Sample: Appendix II). 6. Now ask students to name all the illegal acts they believe should come to the attention of the courts and list them down the left side of the chalkboard. When students recommend penalties, stop them and ask: Should age be a factor? Is this the punishment you would recommend for a 38-year old adult? What if the accused were only 21? What if the accused were only 8 years old? 15 years old? 12 years old? Can any automatic consequences be agreed upon regardless of age? Can they draw an arbitrary line as to when sentences should be reduced? You will probably find that if a line is determined, the line will be drawn at different ages for different crimes. 7. If time permits, return to the list of violations. Start at the top, but tell them that the offender has been convicted 3 times for the same offense and received the penalty the class assigned the first two times. Ask if they would change the penalty now? EVALUATION: Do one or both of the following: 1. Have students pretend that they are one of the young people in Lloyd Rader Intensive Treatment Center. Then have them write a letter to a friend describing their predicament and giving their friend advice on how not to end up where they have. 2. Direct students to write an essay discussing what young people could lose if they break the law. TIPS FOR THE TEACHER 1. You may wish to use a different color chalk to mark the new sanctions. You might also address the issue of age. 2. Students may want to give much harsher penalties for offenses that they had previously considered minor because the offender continues to endanger lives. Example: prison time for a drunk driver who had previously received only fines or community services. BIBLIOGRAPHY "Criminal Justice in America", Constitutional Rights Foundation, 1983; Furlong, Mary S. and McMahon, Edward T. "Family Law", West Publishing Company 1984; Rickes, Linda; Jenkins, Steve; and Russell, Armentha, "Juvenile Responsibility and the Law", 3rd Ed., West Publishing Company, 1990; Starr, Isodore "Justice: Due Process Law", West Publishing Company, 1981 "Teens, Crime, and the Community", West Publishing Company, 1988 APPENDIX I: SURVEY Place a check by any activity in which you have participated during the last 10 days: _____ Gone to a mall _____ Possessed United States currency _____ Shopped in a retail store (Sears, 7-11, etc.) _____ Unaccounted for by parents or guardian for 5 minutes or more. _____ Rode in a private passenger car _____ Talked on phone more than 5 minutes in one week _____ Drove a car or rode a bike on a city street _____ Determined your own bedtime _____ Attended any public activity or event (church, pep rally, football game, concert, etc.) _____ Planned your own weekend activities _____ Rode in any public transportation (School or city bus, train, plane) _____ Stayed up past 11 p.m. on weekends _____ At the spur of the moment, picked up the phone to call friend or family _____ Slept in on Saturday or Sunday _____ Ate in a restaurant or drive-in _____ Had matches or a lighter for your use _____ Consumed candy or soft drink before or with lunch _____ Had access to cigarettes or tobacco products _____ Ate pizza or hamburger _____ Had over-the-counter drugs available for your use at your own discretion _____ Chose your meal from a menu (or allowed to place a special request for food at home) _____ Ate with metal tableware (stainless steel or silver knives, forks, and spoons) _____ Invited a friend home for a meal or snack _____ Used scissors, knife, screwdriver, sewing pins, or needles or other tools available for your use without direct adult supervision _____ Ate junk food 2 or more times _____ Entertained a friend in your room _____ Slept with your bedroom door open _____ Visited a friend at his or her home _____ Expected to attend school 237 days per year regardless of grades. _____ Chose what TV program you would watch _____ Left your room without direct adult supervision _____ Laid on bed or "crashed" on sofa to watch TV _____ Bathed, showered, or shaved privately without direct adult supervision _____ "Raided" the refrigerator _____ Wore clothes that were purchased for you at your request APPENDIX II: DOING CRIME, DOING TIME Create a grid on the chalkboard with crimes listed on the left and consequences/punishments across the top. CRIME CONSEQUENCES/PUNISHMENTS Speeding Fine Drunk Driving Community Service Car Theft At home probation Kidnapping Out Patient Drug Therapy Burglary Drug Treatment Arson Juvenile Detention Manslaughter Juvenile Treatment Facility Murder City/County Jail Rape Adult Detention Child Molesting Minimum Security Prison Larceny Maximum Security Prison Life Sentence Death Penalty