EDUCATION IS one of the most important tools we can give a young person. It is meant to provide them with the information they need to navigate their way through life.

We are all aware of the importance of subjects like English, maths and science. Less obvious, is the importance of teaching young people what they need to know about life outside the classroom.

My personal view is that education needs to be more holistic by including non-traditional subjects. One example of this, is teaching children their rights as it pertains to stop and search and police powers. 

As it stands at the moment, students are already taught about democracy, the government, as well as other political and social issues.

YLA

At the Young Lawyers Association, we have always strongly believed that stop and search and police powers should be taught in schools as part of the curriculum, under the citizenship subject.

As it stands at the moment, students are already taught about democracy, the government, as well as other political and social issues.

The inclusion of stop and search therefore does not seem out of place under this subject. We began our Know Your Rights project back in August 2019, where we went into schools and colleges teaching young people their rights when it comes to stop and search.

Whilst it was myself delivering the sessions, I was accompanied into the schools by our Engage Officer, Chibueze Pipi.

We delivered interactive sessions, packed with scenarios, videos and thought-provoking discussions to young people aged between 14 and 16.

They were thoroughly engaged throughout the session, and often had further questions at the end of the session about their own experiences.

The response we received from teachers was always the same – they felt as strongly about teaching stop and search to the young people as we did.

The response we received from teachers was always the same – they felt as strongly about teaching stop and search to the young people as we did.

YLA

The problem was that unfortunately, they did not know enough about it to teach, nor did they know who to contact externally to get it taught in their respective schools.

One year on, we are extremely excited to announce our campaign to get stop and search taught in schools as part of the Citizenship subject.

We will begin working with Harris Academy in Tottenham for a 3-week programme beginning in February 2021. We will be delivering daily morning sessions to Year 7s, right the way through to Year 11s, with two detailed sessions for sixth formers on Wednesdays.

Project

We are also working on a 12-week project to begin in September 2020 as a partnership with the young people at GT Scholars.

GT Scholars is an amazing charity who we are so excited to be working with. They are working very hard to tackle educational inequality by providing young people all they need to achieve their academic and career aspirations. You can read more about the brilliant work they do by visiting gtscholars.org.

During the 12-week course, we will be teaching young people everything from stop and search itself, what happens during arrest, detention and interview, to the post-interview processes.

We will also cover what a young person is to do, should they feel like their rights have been violated, or the stop and search was unlawful.

Scare

The purpose of this course is not to scare or frighten young people, rather to teach them what rights are afforded to them under the legislation that is put in place to protect them.

As mentioned throughout this article, getting stop and search and police powers included as part of the curriculum, has always been one of our long-term goals.

Due to the scale of this new project, we need help from anyone who is willing and able to dedicate their time and effort to our programme. 

If you are a criminal/civil practitioner, a barrister/solicitor, a BPTC/LPC student, a criminal paralegal, or someone with no experience who would like to get involved, please email [email protected] and you will be sent an email with more information.

The response we have received so far from practitioners, students, and those who generally believe in the programme has been overwhelming! We are incredibly thankful to everyone who has volunteered their time.

Rights

The importance of teaching young people their rights when it comes to stop and search and police powers cannot be over emphasised.

Upon completion of both our three-week and 12 week program, we will be submitting a full and detailed proposal to the Department of Education, for support and backing of our efforts.

If you have any further questions or queries about the project, then please email [email protected]