| No Crime - Get A Life ,pilot year success |
| 09 June 2008 10:48:17 GMT |
As Norfolk PACT’s latest project “No Crime – Get a Life!” approaches the home straight of its pilot year, Project Coordinator Laurence Wild reflects on its successes. “With feedback from 97% of the 850 pupils who have been on the receiving end of this project since last November, the verdict is clear,” she said. “More than 75% of them said they found the day interesting or useful and that they enjoyed it, while only 12% said they found it, or some of it, boring. A quiz repeated at the beginning and the end of the day shows that knowledge about the Criminal Justice System and confidence in their knowledge about the system increased massively as a result of the day’s workshops” she added.
The full day programme, which starts with pupils watching a 30-minute film, consists of a series of workshops delivered by magistrates, police officers, the Prison Service, the Youth Offending Team, representatives of the Norfolk Criminal Justice Board and education workers from Victim Support.
Overall, pupils rated the Prison workshop as their favourite, and the most common feedback comments included surprise at how harsh prison life is. Victim Support also made a huge impact, with pupils expressing surprise at how their own age group is statistically more likely to be a victim of personal crime than any other age group. The mock sentencing trial workshop run by three magistrates also received very positive feedback, and comments reflecting how frightening an environment a court can be. “I realised how hard it is to say your story in court” a pupil from Framingham Earl High School said, after role-playing the defendant in the magistrates’ workshop.
Other frequent comments included an increased awareness of how intimidating crowds of youngsters can be, how a police record can stay with you for a long time and affect your future life and job prospects, how easy it is to slide into crime by making careless choices, and how much support there is out there for offenders, victims and witnesses of crime. “After today” said one pupil from King Edward VII School in King’s Lynn, “I’ll think about my actions, because what I think is OK, others might not.” Another added “I’ve realised that what I do now could affect my life forever.”
“No Crime – Get a Life!”, which has been delivered so far in Acle High School, Aylsham High School, Costessey High School, Framingham Earl High School and King Edward VII School in King’s Lynn, will also be delivered at the Blyth-Jex School and Earlham High School in Norwich, North Walsham High School, and Springwood High School in King’s Lynn later this term. If you would like to have the project in your school, contact Laurence Wild on 07707 638 221 or l.wild2@ntlworld.com
|
|
Home
