Rich Task:

Youth Crime and You

Course:

Understanding Canadian Law, Grade 11, University/College Preparation, CLU3M
(2 credit Cooperative Education)

Evaluation:

Part of 70%

Part of 30%

* Both

Context:

·          Based on content of media reports on youth crime, it can be inferred that youth crime is increasing in vast and unmanageable numbers, as is the seriousness of crimes committed.

·          You will use the knowledge and skills acquired in your Understanding Canadian Law course and your Cooperative Education placement to identify issues, analyze crime levels, and predict future trends in a specific youth crime.

 

Related Course Expectations

 

 

Strand: Heritage

HTV.01 · explain what law is and why societies have laws and describe the different categories of law;

HT1.03 - distinguish between the various categories of law;

HT1.04 - explain the meaning and nature of the various types of law;

HTV.03 · explain who is responsible for law-making in Canada and how laws are developed, interpreted, applied, challenged, and enforced;

HT3.02 - describe the role of government, its agencies, and the courts in making, changing, or interpreting the law.

 

Strand: Rights and Freedoms

RFV.01 · describe the sources of Canadian rights and freedoms and explain how rights and freedoms may differ and conflict;

RF1.03 - analyze situations in which rights and freedoms may conflict;

RFV.03 · describe the rights and freedoms enshrined in Canadian law and explain how they are interpreted, how they may be limited, and how they are enforced in Canada and in Ontario;

RF3.01 - describe the rights and freedoms found in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms;

RF3.02 - analyze situations in which a right or freedom may be justifiably limited (e.g., libel laws that limit the freedom of the press).

 

Strand: Criminal Law and Procedures

CLV.01 · summarize what constitutes a crime or regulatory offence in Canada;

CL1.01 - describe the elements that must exist for a person to be convicted of a crime under Canadian law;

CL1.02 - differentiate between a summary conviction and an indictable offence;

CL1.03 - explain the classifications and key elements of crime described in the Canadian Criminal Code and related federal statutes;

 

CLV.02 · describe the processes, legal institutions, and methods involved in bringing a criminal case to trial;

CL2.01 - describe the process of a police investigation, including the questioning of an accused and the gathering of evidence;

CL2.02 - identify the elements of a legal arrest, including the rights of an accused under arrest or detention;

CL2.03 - describe different types of pre-trial release mechanisms summarize the structure of the criminal court system, including avenues of appeal;

CLV.03 · explain the structure and role of the Canadian court system in criminal law;

CL3.02 - describe the role of different individuals involved in a criminal trial;

CL3.04 - identify legally accepted defenses to criminal charges;

CLV.04 · analyze the principles of sentencing, including those relating to alternative methods of imposing sanctions or regulating behaviour;

CL4.01 - describe the main principles of sentencing;

CL4.02 - explain the various sentencing options available, including alternative options

CL4.03 - analyze the role of victims and victim impact statements in sentencing;

CL4.04 - explain the role of the prison system.

CLV.05 · explain how the criminal law applies to young people.

CL5.01 - describe the key differences between the Juvenile Delinquents Act (1929), the Young Offenders Act (1984), and the proposed replacement for the Young Offenders Act, the Youth Criminal Justice Act;

CL5.02 - identify controversial aspects of the Young Offenders Act and outline the arguments on both sides of these controversies;

CL5.03 - analyze areas of criminal law, besides those covered in the Young Offenders Act, that may apply to young people.

Strand:  Regulation and Dispute Resolution

RDV.01 · distinguish between civil and criminal law;

RD1.01 - describe the differences between public law and private law;

RDV.02 · describe the processes, legal institutions, and methods involved in bringing a civil dispute to trial and resolution;

RD2.02 - summarize the procedures involved in bringing a civil action.

 

Strand: Methods of Legal Inquiry

LIV.01 · use research methods appropriately to gather, organize, and synthesize information;

LI1.01 - formulate meaningful questions that lead to a deeper understanding of a legal issue and of the different ways to approach an issue;

LI1.02 - effectively conduct legal research, using traditional and non-traditional sources of information;

LI1.03 - classify and clarify information, using timelines, organizers, mind maps, concept webs, maps, graphs, charts, and diagrams;

LI1.04 - compile summary notes in a variety of forms and for a variety of purposes, including research and preparation for oral presentations, tests, and examinations;

LIV.02 · evaluate the credibility of sources;

 

LI2.01 - distinguish among opinions, facts, and arguments in sources;

LIV.03 · demonstrate an understanding of the dynamic nature of law, including the way in which it evolves in response to technology and changes in societal values;

LI3.01 - explain how changes in attitudes and societal values bring about changes in the law;

LI3.03 - speculate on possible future developments in law and the Canadian legal system based on changes in our society;

LIV.04 · explain, discuss, and interpret legal issues, orally and in writing, using a variety of formats;

LI4.01 - effectively present ideas, opinions, and arguments orally;

LI4.02 - justify and support opinions, using proper legal terminology and informed research;

LI4.03 - use legal terms accurately and appropriately for a variety of purposes and audiences;

LI4.04 - create graphs, charts, organizers, images, and illustrations to support oral and written presentations;

LI4.05 - write clear, coherent, and logically organized reports, papers, and essays, observing the rules for ethical use of research material and following an accepted format for documenting sources;

LI4.06 - identify and describe career opportunities in the legal field.

 

Evaluation Strategies and Scoring Tools

 

Evaluation Strategies

Scoring Tools

Expectations

Achievement Chart

70%

Part A: Annotated Scrapbook: Media Reports

Rubric

HTV.01, HT1.03, HT1.04, LIV 01, LI1.02, LI1.03, LI1.04, LIV.02, LI2.01, LIV.04, LI4.03, LI4.04, LI4.05

K/U, T

Part B: Chart: Court visits

Rubric

HTV.01, HT1.03, HT1.04, HTV.03, HT3.02, RFV.03, RF3.02, CLV.01, CL1.01, CL1.02, CL1.03, CLV.03, CL3.02, CL3.04, CLV.04, CL4.01, CL4.02, CL4.03, CLV.05, CL5.01, RDV.01, RD1.01, RDV.02, RD2.02, LIV.04, LI4.01, LI4.03, LI4.06

K, T, C, A

Part C: Interview: Police Officer

Rubric

HTV.03, HT3.02, RFV.01, RF1.03, RFV.03, RF3.01, RF3.02, CLV.02, CL2.01, CL2.02, CL2.03, CLV.03, CL3.02, CLV.05, CL5.01, CL5.02, CL5.03, RDV.02, RD2.02, LIV.01, LI1.01, LI1.02, LI1.03, LI1.04, LIV.03, LI3.01, LI3.03, LIV.04, LI4.01, LI4.02, LI4.03, LI4.04, LI4.05, LI4.06

K/U, T, C, A

 

Part D: Survey: Student Attitudes

Rubric

LIV.01, LI1.01, LI1.02, LI1.03, LI1.04, LIV.02, LI2.01, LIV.03, LI3.01, LI3.03, LIV.04, LI4.01, LI4.02, LI4.03, LI4.04, LI4.05, LI4.06

K/U, T, C, A

30%

Part E: Presentation: Prevention Strategy – Supported Opinion

Rubric

HTV.01, HT1.03, HT1.04, HTV.03, HT3.02, RFV.03, RF3.02, CLV.05, CL5.01, CL5.02, CL5.03, LIV.01, LI1.01, LI1.02, LI1.03, LI1.04, LIV.02, LI2.01, LIV.03, LI3.01, LI3.03, LIV.04, LI4.01, LI4.02, LI4.03, LI4.04

K/U, T, C, A

Part F: Seminar Presentation: Informed Opinion on a Legal Issue

Rubric

H1, R2, RL2

ICV.01, ICV.02, ICV.03, IC1.01, IC1.02, IC2.01, IC2.02, IC2.03

K/U, T, C, A

 

Teacher Notes

·          Present the Rich Task early in the course so that the student is very clear on the expectations and can begin to inquire about issues.

·          Suggest where to find legal “issues” with a focus on Youth Justice, e.g., Department of Justice Canada.

·          Suggest and discuss a work plan with the student:

-         Week One (in school): Begin perusing newspapers and magazines, collecting law-related articles on a topic of interest.

-         Week Two (placement, or first monitoring visit): Decide on the research topic for the interview with a local OPP Officer and prepare the interview questions. The student may want to review the list of chosen questions with you.

-         Week Four: Conduct the interview and submit notes and a copy of the interview questions for assessment.

-         Week Five: Prepare the survey questions that elicit information about teen attitudes towards police.

-         Week Six: Conference with teacher about appropriateness of the survey. Make copies for distribution and assess the survey.

-         Week Seven: Conduct the survey. Analyze and interpret the results. Tally the results in a chart or table. Use the appropriate graphs or tables to illustrate the results and make connections between the results. Submit these for assessment.

-         Week Nine: Decide on a topic for library research considering issues such as:  Youth Crime on the Rise?  Youth Crime Involving Violence; The YCJA, Myths and Realities; etc.

-         Week Ten: Present the subtopic and conference with teacher.

-         Week Eleven: Present a list of library resources to the teacher.

-         Week Twelve: Decide on relevant information.

-         Week Fourteen: Present findings to OPP education liaison or supervisor and offer strategies. Book any audio visual equipment for the presentation.

-         Week Fifteen: Create an oral presentation to report your findings about an issue, youth crimes, attitudes towards police, a suggestion or opinion for change.

 

 

Task

 

Student Notes

Part A: Media Scrapbook

·          Develop an annotated scrapbook of law articles related to youth crime from newspapers and/or magazines. The completed scrapbook should contain at least 12 articles (three per month), found over the period of your co-op placement.

·          For each article in the scrapbook, write a brief summary.

·          Summarize each article in a chart placed at the back of the scrapbook. The chart should have the following columns:

–  Class of Law, 

–  Rules (substantive or procedural),

–  Type of Law (criminal, administrative)

–  Function Served by the Law (maintain order and provide protection)

 

·          Keep a record of the source (magazine or newspaper) and the date of the issue. Highlight important parts of each article.

 

 

 

 

 

·          Each article and event should have a “caption” giving the reader information about the class and specific type of law. You might have to look up this information.

Part B: Court Visit

·          Complete a series of four journal articles (one per month) summarizing your experiences during courthouse hearings or trials.

·          In each summary, explain the process that was followed and your thoughts on the events of the hearing.

·          Include information such as:

–  type of hearing;

–  appeal pending;

–  what class of law (public or private) the hearing pertained to;

–  what specific type of law had an influence;

–  the function of law.

·          Describe the role of different individuals involved in the proceedings.

 

 

 

·          Make point-form notes as soon after the hearing as you can while everything is fresh in your mind. Include relevant details, your impression of the hearing, your thoughts, etc.

 

·          Make sure the names of the young offenders are not included in your summary.

·          You might want to use a notebook to keep your notes organized.

Part C: Interview a Police Officer

·          Decide on the focus of your interview with a local OPP Officer:

-         the role of police in community, or

-         new youth laws.

·          Prepare the interview questions and organize them in a logical sequence.

·          Take point-form notes of the OPP Officer’s responses to the interview questions.

·          Summarize and report the findings of your interview choosing the most effective format to present the information.

·          Submit a copy of the interview questions and a copy of notes taken during the interview to your teacher.

 

 

 

 

 

 

·          Phrase the questions so that the OPP Officer will not answer simply “yes” or “no.”

Part D: Student Survey

·          Prepare survey questions that address the youth crime you are interested in doing research on (attitudes, emergent issues, trends, etc.).

·          Think about:

-         Are the questions clear?

-         Are the questions in a logical sequence?

-         Can the responses be tallied easily?

-         Do the questions suggest the answers?

-         Are your questions stated so that your personal opinion isn’t evident?

·          Conduct a survey of at least 50 students and teens on their attitudes toward youth crime and the police.

·          Summarize the results of the survey using a chart and/or graph.

·          Write a short concluding paragraph to summarize the survey findings.

·          State what trends you found in your survey results, any surprises that you encountered, and what you think you can interpret from the results in terms of youth crime.

 

 

·          Submit a copy of the survey for assessment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

·          Have a representative sample of people of different ages, gender, and ethnic groups.

·          Use the appropriate graph for the relationship you want to communicate, e.g., bar graph for simple comparisons, line graph for only two factors, and pie graph for a variety of factors.

Part E: Presenting a Prevention Strategy

·          Decide on a broad topic to research on a youth crime issue, and then narrow it down to a sub-topic that is manageable and easy to research using library resources and the Internet. Examples of topics to research might include: severity of crimes, new laws, attitudes towards police, crime in your local community and school, drugs and alcohol, traffic violations, myths vs. realities, gangs, etc. Use point form notes to record information. Use at least three sources, one of which must be in printed form.

·          Write a short summary of your findings, including information about the youth crime, relevant statistics, trends that emerged, and whether you feel that this is a topic that should be researched further.

·          Use your research and the information you gathered in part A, B, C, and D to suggest a strategy for helping educate youth about lawful behaviour. Base your strategy on a prediction of future trends in this aspect of youth crime.

·          The strategy should:

-         outline the area of focus or concern clearly;

-         specify the age group you were interested in;

-         provide a clear picture of the issues in that area of youth crime;

-         be supported by information you found in Part A, B, C and/or D;

-         predict the future trend in your area/ neighbourhood;

-         help educate youth to make the right choices.

·          Choose an effective format, such as a diagram with supporting writing, a poster, or an essay for presenting your strategy.

·          Present your prediction and strategy to your employer/supervisor or the Officer Education liaison.

 

 

 

·          Confer with your teacher about a topic you are interested in.

 

 

·          Keep track of the title, author, publisher and date of publication for each source used. Record page numbers of quotes.

 

 

·          Make an outline: decide on a good introduction, what should be found in the body, and how you are going to conclude the summary.

·          Proofread your summary and ask someone for suggestions to improve your work.

Part F: Informed Opinion on a Legal Issue

·          Select a youth crime legal issue and prepare a 15-minute seminar presentation for your teacher (or a law class) to defend your informed opinion on this aspect of youth crime.

·          Include relevant information you found in Parts A through D so that it is understandable by the audience.

·          Be prepared to answer any questions that the audience might have, and to defend your opinions, as necessary.

·          Your presentation should include:

-         a clear statement of the opinion you are presenting and defending about your chosen aspect of youth crime;

-         the target audience (age, interests, etc.);

-         a summary of the survey and interview findings you did previously;

-         your prediction of future trends;

-         a visual aid (poster, diagram, photographs, video, etc…);

-         a written component aimed at educating youth (to be handed in after the presentation);

-         an interactive component (something that gets the “audience” involved).

·          Make your presentation to the selected audience.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

·          Be sure to use the proper legal terminology.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

·          For the interactive component you might have the audience answer questions, brainstorm ideas, guess at some of your research, etc.

·          Practise your presentation so that you can comfortably present your ideas, arguments and research