Theme: personal safety and parental control
Lexical area: permission and obligation
Cross curricular links: personal and social education / citizenship / social science

Instructions for language assistants are in italics

Classroom materials

Introduction
This lesson deals with the area of teenagers' personal freedom and the potential dangers and responsibilities involved. The lesson is divided into seven parts. The first two parts build up to a reading in part three. You can follow the reading up with any or all of the four final parts.

• Word of warning:
  
  Some of these topic could bring out potentially sensitive issues. Try to judge if these are acceptable topics to talk about in your host country. Check with other teachers if you are not sure. If you need to draw on concrete examples, use ones from the UK.

1. Are your parents strict?
For intermediate groups and above you can brainstorm the word 'Freedom'.

• Example:. What other words do they associate with freedom? What does freedom mean to them?)

Give an example to get them started: (choosing your own clothes!)

For lower levels go straight into the task and build up examples of the questions they need to ask on the board: (E.g. choose your bedtime: Who decides what time you go? What time do you go to bed?)

Follow the same procedure for the next two prompts and invite students to give example questions. Ask the questions around the class. Then students should then be able to continue with the interview in pairs.

Bear in mind that teenage independence might not be as vital to young people in the culture you are visiting as in the UK.

Task 1 Are your parents strict?
Which of the following are you allowed to do? At what age are you allowed to do these things?

• • Choose your bedtime
  • Travel to school alone
  • Visit friends' houses after school
  • Come back late at night on public transport
  • Use chat rooms on the Internet
  • Smoke or drink alcohol
  • Own a mobile

• Think of 2 things you would like to do that your parents do not allow.

2. Your parents' generation : Did they have more freedom?
Give examples of your own family and make clear the era you are talking about:

(Example: When my mother was young in the 1970s young people did not have their own phone, TV or computer in their bedroom. They went to their friends' houses to talk about their homework, but I phone or e-mail my friends about homework! I can communicate more often with my friends.)

Students can do the task in pairs or small groups then you can get examples from around the class.

Task 2 Your parents' generation : Did they have more freedom?
Compare your life to the life of your parents when they were your age.

• • Example: My parents didn't have as much money to spend and they didn't go shopping as much as I do.

• Compare:
  
  • social life
  • spending money
  • school
  • work
  • holidays
  • boyfriends/girlfriends

3. Freedom for teenagers in the UK
Make sure students understand some of the key words from the text:

• potentially (dangerous)
• unsuitable (friends)
• to keep tabs on someone,
• to be responsible for something.

There is also potential for confusion with the word stranger, which is a false friend meaning foreigner in many languages (Stranger = person you don't know, foreigner is someone from another country)

Then give them the questions and the text to read.

Task 3 (a) Freedom for teenagers in the UK
Read this text and find the answers to these questions

• Who is worried about teenagers in the UK? (parents)
• Why are parents trying to reduce their children's freedom? (to protect them/keep them safe from strangers)
• How can parents find out where their children are? (Many have mobiles and their parents call them)

Task 3 (b)
Look at the text again and find:

• two potentially dangerous situations for UK teenagers (travelling alone on public transport / meeting strangers in a chat room / being attacked by mobile phone thieves)

• examples of how parents might be over- protective (not allowing them to travel to school on a bus!)

4. In your country
Get students to discuss these questions together. You could do this as a whole group or with students in pairs or small groups.

Task 4 In your country
Discuss these questions.

• How does your country compare with the UK?
• Are parents afraid for your safety?
• Do young people use chat rooms?
• Do parents give their children mobiles?
• Are young people trained in personal safety? How to stay safe?
• Do young people think their parents are too strict?

5. Keeping safe
Put students in pairs or groups to do this and circulate, giving help when needed. Tell students that they are preparing a poster to put on walls in schools and clubs, so short simple sentences will do.

Task 5 Keeping safe
Many UK teenagers of 14 and above go to clubs or parties at the weekend. What advice can you give them?

Example:

• Tell someone where you are going.
• Give a telephone number if possibl
• Don't accept a lift home from a stranger

Think of 4 more important things to remember if you are going out at night.

6. What's the best age?
Discuss the first example with the whole class before putting them in pairs or groups to work through the examples. Hold a class vote at the end. Who thinks it is OK to go clubbing at 12? etc.

Focus on vocabulary like: mature / immature / too young to / not responsible enough to ../ It depends on the person / It depends on the circumstance / town where you live.

Task 6 What's the best age?
At what age do you think it is OK to do the following things?

7. Young people and the law
If students are interested in the UK laws for young people check out the internet links to provide them with a complete list. Get them to tick the laws which are different or which surprise them!

Task 7 Young people and the law
Young people in the UK are allowed to drive a car when they are 17, they can buy alcohol in a pub when they are 18 and they can take a part time job when they are 13.

• What are the laws for young people in your country? Would you like to change any of them?

Internet links

All you need to know about young people's rights:
www.crights.org.uk

Go to resources for schools for usable questionnaires for students on internet safety:
www.scotland.gov.uk/clickthinking

Sheet of advice from police:
www.met.police.uk/crimeprevention/personal.htm

Covers bullying and safety in children's section with downloadable leaflet on personal safet:
www.kidscape.org.uk

Archive links
Know the Net can be used with this lesson or as a substitute.
Teenage tribes lesson explores the issue of identity, fashions and parental control. It could be used before this topic or as a follow up lesson to this one.

By Clare lavery