A Law-Related Education for Alaskans.

Overview & Synopsis

This paper reviews law-related education and suggests ways to implement this type of education in Alaska's secondary schools. Ten reasons for teaching law-related education are presented including the following: research demonstrates the effectiveness of such education; increases student interest in the law; helps students become effective citizens; deters juvenile delinquency and youth crime; and encourages peaceful conflict resolution. Ten characteristics of effective law-related education programs are then presented. These include: involvement of outside resource persons; use of good teaching methods; small group activities; support by administrators; peer support for teachers; and focus on values clarification and moral development. Since most law-related education materials are based upon federal law and procedure, the creation of Alaska-specific, law-related education materials is encouraged. Ten lesson plans for use in secondary classrooms are presented in the appendix. Lesson plans address such topics as student rights, the Alaska court structure, jury deliberations, misdemeanor sentencing, the right to privacy, the Alaska Oil Spill, and comparative law--the Pacific Rim. Recommendations include the need for teacher/attorney teams state to create additional Alaska-specific lesson plans, and the need to include all law-related education materials into a teacher-accessible computerized data bank. Contains 104 references. (GLR)