UK project enhances legal understanding for legally accountable 10-year-olds, research finds

Most Year 5 children will know little about the law and their rights, but by midnight on their 10th birthday they become criminally responsible in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

With this in mind, and with inspiration from Channel 4’s taskmaster, Dr. Ali Struthers of the Law School at the University of Warwick created “School Tasking”. The primary outreach project has now become a national competition in 32 universities (working with up to 6000 children) across the UK and Ireland, from Aberdeen to Kent and from Newcastle to Cardiff.

New research into the project found a marked improvement in children’s understanding of the law after the sessions, which linked to cases affecting their consumer rights, human rights and broader themes of justice and equality.

The research suggests that children’s pre-existing understanding of the law may be based on media depictions, from what a lawyer looks like, complete with gowns, gavels and briefcases – to what crime looks like, including Americanized images from crime-based television shows and weapons of violent criminals. computer games.

By week four, children begin to incorporate technical terminology into their work, including “jurisprudence,” “law,” and “duty of care.” In addition, the concept of an individual’s “rights” begins to appear, including reference to specific human rights, including education, family, protection from abuse and freedom.

The emergence of these additional themes that directly reflect the topic covered in the sessions suggests that, at least by the last session, School Tasks, to some extent, children’s conceptions of what law is, how it works and who it is disrupt. for.

Dr. Ali Struthers, creator of School Tasking and associate professor at the University of Warwick’s School of Law, said: “The project has succeeded in broadening children’s perspectives on law, making it more relatable and meaningful in everyday life beyond the narrow perception of crime and criminality.

Importantly, the findings reveal that children enjoy the project and engage with the law on a deeper level, while also showing that this learning is retained, even up to a year after their participation in the classroom sessions. This interest in the more curious or controversial aspects of the law will in turn, we hope, encourage more children from less privileged backgrounds to consider university study and even the study of Law itself.”

Next year, Taskmaster’s creator and star, Alex Horne, will receive an honorary doctorate from the University of Warwick, recognizing his continued support for and contribution to the project and its rollout.

The findings are published in The Law Teacher journal.