Citizenship: The rights and wrongs of modern life

Richard Garner goes back to school to witness one of the newly introduced lessons in citizenship

The 11- and 12-year-olds at North Walsham High School were just into their second week at secondary school. It was time for their first lesson in citizenship – and to learn of their rights and responsibilities. Their teacher, Russell Hammond, began by asking them what rights they thought a new-born baby should have.

"The right to food," said one. "The right to be loved," added another.

The youngsters at the school just outside Norwich in Norfolk were then asked to fill in a worksheet showing the ages from nought to 20 and asked to write out which rights they thought youngsters earned at which age. The concerns raised by them were interesting. One wanted to know about the right to strike – and was told that began to apply when people started employment. Others were keen to know when they had the right to start drinking alcohol.

According to Hammond, these were the types of issues that had been covered in personal and social health education lessons in the past. But from the start of this term they have become a mandatory part of the school timetable for youngsters in key stage three (11- to 14-year-olds) and key stage four (14- to 16-year-olds). There is no statutory requirement for primary schools to teach the subject but they are encouraged to do so if they want to.

As for secondary schools, the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority – the Government's exams watchdog – and the Department for Education and Skills have devised a list of topics that schools could cover. They include a basic grounding in the working of democracy in the UK.

One of the reasons that David Blunkett, when he was Secretary of State for Education, was so keen to push for citizenship to be included on the school timetable was that today's school-leavers were becoming more apathetic and reluctant to play their part as citizens of a democratic country. (Witness the falling turn-outs in successive general and local elections.) Ministers felt it was necessary to give schools official encouragement to teach citizenship because previous legislation aimed at stopping political indoctrination of children had left teachers worried about what they could and could not teach.

Citizenship was originally mooted as the new three Rs – where children were taught about rights, wrongs and their responsibilities. It was all part and parcel of Blunkett's plan to set up an army of millennium volunteers, working with local charities or on projects to improve their local environment. In other words, being prepared for the world they would join when they left school and being assisted to play their role as good citizens in it.

Meanwhile, back at North Walsham High School, Russell Hammond's class were struggling with their rights.

On the drinks front, they worked out that you can legally go into a bar and buy soft drinks at the age of 14. At 16, you could buy an alcoholic drink to drink with a meal. "That's not just a packet of crisps," said Hammond. "It's a real meal." At 18, they could buy a drink of alcohol in a bar or a licensed shop.

Apart from the rights they identified from day one of their life, their earliest legal rights came at the age of four where they – or more properly their parents – had the right to a nursery school place if they wanted one. From the ages of five to 16, they had the right to go to school.

After they had completed their worksheets, they were then asked to turn their minds to the kind of rights they felt they should have at school. "The right to good teaching," was one of the first demands the class made. "The right not to be bullied" coupled with "the responsibility not to be a bully" were two others that came to mind.

As part of their homework, they were asked to draw up a charter of rights which they felt should be introduced at school. Part of their challenge for the year ahead is to inform other pupils of these rights and enlist their support for them.

This brings us neatly on to another topic to be covered in the citizenship timetable – democracy. Under that heading, they will be told that the definition of democracy is "government by the people". They will examine how the government is elected and then how it goes about making laws – and how you can influence your democratically elected representatives to accept your point of view on a subject.

One imaginative way of teaching about democracy suggested by education experts is to issue the "Desert Island Challenge". Under it, pupils are told to imagine the class is marooned on a desert island where they must live together cut off from the outside world for a period of time and must fend for themselves. They must decide: "How will the community decide what happens to it?"; "Are everyone's views equally important?"; and "How are responsibilities (for finding food, shelter, clean water, healthcare) divided between the members of the community?"

They are then asked to consider how democracy works in their own school. For instance, should everyone be given a vote in the next school council election, and should everyone take part in the vote?

There is also an international flavour to the lessons, with students learning about the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, and rights that they may not think they would need in the UK – such as the right "not to be treated cruelly if they break the law" and "not to be put in prison with adults".

These are the types of issues and questions that will be discussed by the class of 2002 at North Walsham High School in the coming months as they continue with their lessons in citizenship. As they attempt to find the answers, ministers earnestly hope it will prepare the way for them – and millions of other youngsters like them around the country – to become more active citizens in the future. Active, that is, in playing a part in our democracy.