Setting the scene

These ideas could be used before working through The Crime and/or That's My Idea! on the website.

1. Defining justice

Use a first and second definitions table and look at the words below. The students complete the first definition on their own. The teacher collects these and gauges the current level of student knowledge in this area and returns the definitions.

During the course of the unit, add the agreed-on/correct definition in the second definition column.

Access to Justice definitions table
Word	First definition	Second definition
social justice
rights
responsibilities
freedom
courts
judicial system

2. Responsibilities and rights at different ages

Ask your students to consider responsibilities and rights at the different age levels of a student through to adulthood. For example, they could complete a table like this one:

My rights at the age of ...	My responsibilities at the age of ...
I have the right to say what I want.	I have the responsibility to make sure what I say is true.
I have the right to choose what I believe in.	I have the responsibility to allow others to choose what they want to believe in without persecution.
I have the right to ...

My rights from the age of 18	My responsibilities from the age of 18
I have the right to vote in a general election.	I have the responsibility to enrol as an elector at the age of 18.
I have the right to own items such as a car.	I have the responsibility to use what I own in safe and responsible ways (like obeying the road code).
I have the right to ...

Ask your students to reflect on if/how rights/responsibilities change with age.

3. Why do we need a system of justice?

In groups, read the following stories and answer the following questions for each story.

1. What happens next?
2. What are the rights of the student involved?
3. What are the responsibilities of the student involved?
4. What systems of justice could Sam or Julia use next? Create a flow diagram describing the steps s/he could take next.
5. Why does New Zealand need a system of courts or a judicial system?

A. Where's my cellphone?

As Julia walked out the school gates, she reached into her bag to grab her cellphone to text her Mum. "Hey, where's my phone?" she said to her friend Brittany. "I'll just stop and check my bag." Julia searched her bag, but she couldn't find the missing cellphone. Just then, Brad ran past holding a cellphone and laughing loudly, "Are you missing something, Julia?" The cellphone he held looked just like Julia's small blue one.

B. Give me back my cellphone.

Mrs Parkinson was droning on again. Sam was tired, and he was thinking more about what he could do after school than he was about maths. He carefully reached into his bag and got out his cellphone to text Michael about what he was up to after school. "Sam!" shouted Mrs Parkinson. "Pass your cell phone up here. You've just lost it for a week. Remember the cellphone rules we wrote last week?"

4. A "lawless" society - some scenarios

1. In groups, the students imagine that they have arrived on a deserted island and have to start their own society. What rules/ laws would they need? What responsibilities would they have to observe in order to survive/ thrive?
2. In groups, imagine that you have just moved into a flat together - what rules do you need to have in place to make your flat run smoothly? What consequences are there for breaking rules?
3. Consider what a nation state would be like without a judicial system. Design a scenario of what could happen if there were no systems like there are in New Zealand to address crime and lawbreaking. Draw an eight-frame cartoon showing this scenario.