Website helps students to grasp justice

A new civics education website aims to demystify the justice system for secondary school students.

Courts Minister Rick Barker yesterday launched the website - called Access to Justice - which was developed as part of a new civics education programme.

The site uses cartoons and scenarios to explore the criminal and civil justice systems.

One of the cartoons follows 20-year-old Oliver Fender on his trip through the criminal court system after he kills two people, including his girlfriend, in a car accident.

The website, which can be accessed by the public, is not a compulsory part of the school curriculum, but is a resource for teachers and is designed to complement secondary school subjects such as social studies.

Mr Barker said the courts played a vital role in a democratic society and it was important people understood them.

He said people often told him they had got into trouble because they did not understand how the system worked and ended up with a conviction as a consequence.

Thomas Johnson, a social studies teacher at Onslow College in Wellington where the website was launched yesterday, said it was a good research tool for students and was useful for teachers because it included suggestions of how it could be used to complement existing courses.

But the Green Party has criticised the Government for not going far enough with the civics education programme.

Co-leader Rod Donald said that while it did provide a useful description of the justice system, it was "hardly a beginning" for civics education.

"What New Zealand desperately needs is a proper programme of civics education that is embedded in the education system so that young people leave school not only knowing how to read, write and do arithmetic, but what their rights and responsibilities are as citizens."

The Greens have succeeded in getting recommendations about civics education passed by a number of committees, including the MMP review committee.

"The fundamental problem we have is declining voter turnout among younger voters."

www.justice.govt.nz/education/