Act as a Responsible Citizen

There are two topics in this section. This information will help you discover the answer to the following questions:

How my choices affect me, others and my community

Choices and Canadian Law

We all make choices everyday. Often our choices only affect ourselves, but sometimes the choices we make affect others and even our entire community.

When young people in Canada are arrested for making choices that involve them in illegal activities, they are treated differently than adults. Watch the video below of Janice Bidyk, Gateway Coordinator, to hear about “The Youth Criminal Justice Act” and how it applies to you.

Choices and Consequences

Youth often make decisions without fully understanding the consequences of their actions. Many youth think that the consequences only affect themselves. Nothing could be further from the truth! Discover how our choices affect everyone around us in the animation called “Choices and Consequences.”

Facing The Consequences

Watch this video clip about a young boy who has done something illegal.

Are you interested in seeing the whole story? Your school can request The John Howard Society to come and show the complete video, and talk to your class about the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

The John Howard Society

“An Informed Community Active in Preventing Crime” – This is the vision of the Calgary John Howard Society. Have you ever wondered what happens if a young person commits a crime? Educators from The Criminal Justice Education Program can come into your classroom so you can learn all about the criminal laws for youth and how they affect people's lives. We try to make it fun by doing games, drama, activities and even watching a movie! And it's free!

Act as a Responsible Citizen – Think Challenge #1

Gateway Initiative

Watch the videos below and listen to what Janice Bidyk, Gateway Coordinator, says about theyouth crime, the community and the Gateway Initiative, and then click here to read more about this program. In groups or in the online discussion area called “Gateway” talk about this program.

Consider the following questions in your discussions:

Is it a good idea to involve the community in helping a young person when they have committed a crime?
Do you think it will have an effect on a young person if he/she has to be responsible to the community where he/she committed an offence?
Janice said that the police officer has the option of referring youth to a program like the Gateway Initiative, or chraging him/her formally with a criminal offence. Do you think this a useful option for police?
Why do you think the Canadian government changed the law so that the community is more responsible for the behaviour of youth?

Act as a Responsible Citizen – Think Challenge #2

Rumblefish: How do Decisions Affect Your Life?

Read the novel Rumblefish by S.E. Hinton. This novel is all about choices and how people's choices affect their lives.

Select one of the characters from the novel and look at the choices he/she made either during the story or before it started.

With a partner, create a presentation (e.g. a PowerPoint, a poster, an audio recording) that looks at the following questions about that person’s choices.

Have the choices made his/her life better or worse? Include as many examples as you can that show clearly how this person's decisions affected his/her life.
Have the choices made someone else's life better or worse? Again, include examples that clearly point to decisions having impact on others.
Have the choices had an impact on the community? Has it become a better or a worse place?
Would things have been different if this character had made different choices? Why or why not?

Act as a Responsible Citizen – Think Challenge #3

Resolving Conflict

Calgary has a program to help students feel safe again after they have been in some kind of peer conflict. Community Conferencing brings together students involved in a conflict and helps them communicate with and understand each other.

Watch the video below to see an interview with a boy who went through Community Conferencing.

Think About It

After viewing the video get into groups of 3 or 4 and discuss the following questions.

If you have a conflict with another student and feel unsafe, what do you do?
How do you protect yourself?
Do you talk to teachers or the principal about it? Why/ Why not?
Would you talk face to face with the other student? Why/ Why not?
In the video, Eric did have a meeting with the other boy. Did this meeting help the situation?
What other things did the two boys do that helped them make the situation better?
Were you surprised that the boys were actually able to resolve their problem?

Create a poster or multimedia presentation that shows important points to remember when trying to resolve conflict situations. Talk about strategies that work and ones that don't. Include images and pictures that add to your message.

Responsible Citizenship

How do Our Relationships Affect Our Community?

Hanging out and doing fun activities with our friends is a positive and healthy part of life. We all like to feel needed and supported by our peers. What does this boy have to say about friendship?

Unfortunately, some people want to take advantage of this need to belong and try to involve young people in dangerous or criminal activity. Do you know what gangs look like in Calgary? Do you know what recruiters are looking for? Watch the videos below to find out more.

Making a Change

Do you know someone involved with a group they don't want to be involved with anymore? Watch this video clip for some advise on first steps about getting out.

What Does a Healthy Friendship Look Like?

Do you know what a healthy friendship looks like? How can you recognize if its positive or negative? Test your knowledge with this fun “Peer Jigsaw Puzzle” Challenge!

Act as a Responsible Citizen – Think Challenge #4

Snow Angels: Being a Positive Member in Your Community

Part of being a responsible citizen is being active in helping make your community a safe and caring place. Watch the video below about The City of Calgary's Snow Angel program. This program shows a very simple no cost way that anyone can get involved with their community.

With a partner, think about your community and city. Can you think of another way that people could be involved in helping their community. Try to think of something that someone could do easily, but that would help someone else in the community?

Once you have an idea prepare a presentation to show to your class. Include details of:

Who can do the activity?
Who it would benefit? (don't forget the Snow angel program benefits the person who shovels the walk as well as the person whose walk is being shovelled.)
How to advertise your activity.
Any costs involved with the project.

Act as a Responsible Citizen – Think Challenge #5

Positive Self Talk: Help others by Helping Yourself!

Part of being a responsible citizen is being responsible for yourself, and keeping physically and mentally healthy. It is important to mental health to have a good self image, and positive self-talk is one way to boost your self image. Here are a few examples of positive self talk: “I am a happy person.” “I am my own person, and I can make my own decisions.” “I like the way I look.”

Write a poem or a very short essay on the importance of feeling good about yourself. Post it in the “I'm okay” discussion thread for others to read.

Act as a Responsible Citizen – Think Challenge #6

Building a Better Community

Can you make a difference in your community? Does how you act towards others affect your school, your community, and your city? Click here to go to the Government of Alberta's, “Help make a Difference” page of video clips about living in a diverse culture. Watch as many of the videos as you like and then consider the following questions:

Who makes up your classroom?
Do they have different backgrounds, different strengths, different challenges?
How can your class work together to take advantage of this diversity?
How is your class the same as other classes? How is it different?