The Citizenship Zone

Overview of Citizenship

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This is an overview of Citizenship at GCS.

What kind of Citizen are you?

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Take the quiz to find out! Click here.

How rich are you?

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Compare yourself with others in the UK or world-wide here.

Censorship

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How far should censorship go?

Read this article here about bloggers in China.
Here Google themselves are censoring themselves to gain access to the lucrative Chinese market!

Aminal Rights group contaminates Savlon

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Read this story from August 07.

Do you agree with their tactics? Do you disagree with their tactics? Why do some people resort to extremes (which may harm children as children often use this product)? What is the alternative to this kind of action?

Where did the money go?

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Watch this film from You Tube (best with sound).

Hope that made you think about our consumer based society!

The meatrix

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Watch the film below

If you have difficulty viewing this try this link http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=rEkc70ztOrc

This film tries to point out the problems associated with factory farming.

Find out more about animal rights but be careful in your research, there are some extremist sites that are not appropriate viewing. Check with your tutor before viewing any sites you may be unsure of.

Euthanasia

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Should people have a right to die?
Euthanasia is the deliberate killing of a person for the benefit of that person.

It is illegal in this country to assist a suicide but in some other countries people do thave the right to euthanasia.

Click here for lots of information, arguments for and against euthanasia and an explanation of the law.

What do you think? Should euthanasia be allowed in this country?

Human Rights

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Some links to help you find out more.....

http://www.yourrights.org.uk/

The UN site www.un.org/rights/

An explanation of the Human Rights Act can be found here .

How much do you know about the law?

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Click here for a guide to crime and the law.

What do pressure and voluntary groups do?

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How much do you know about what voluntary and pressure groups do?
This film is a good starting point:

There are literally thousands of voluntary and pressure grouos representing just about every issue you can imagine. here are two related to environmental issues:

Click here for Greenpeace

Click here for Friends of the earth.

What is a Citizen?

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Watch the short You Tube film below about citizens in the USA.

What do you think are the characteristics of a good citizen?

Climate change

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Watch the clip from You Tube below where Al Gore talks about global warming

Research what can be done to reduce the impacts of global warming. The website linked to the film (http://www.climatecrisis.net/) is a good start.

Go to this special report here to find out more. Take part in the quizzes to see how much you know.

Terrorism

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Go to the Newsround special report on the London bombing, which can be found here.

Is terrorism an inevitable part of global politics?

Prisoners of conscience

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How much do you know about prisoners of conscience?

Watch the film from You Tube below

We don't have prisoners of conscience in the UK...... do we? Read about the jailed doctor here

Why not do some research on prisoners of conscience? Amnesty International http://www.amnesty.org/ is probably a good starting point (but just be aware that some images may not be suitable for your age group - check with your Tutor first before accessing sites)

How powerful are adverts?

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SMOKING Graphic images are to be placed on cigarette packets by the end of 2009 in an effort to increase awareness about the effects of smoking. Read more here. Some of the images that will be used are here (warning - some of these are quite graphic).

About 106,000 people in the UK die each year due to smoking, many of these suffer for many years with diseases such as COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). About half of all smokers die from smoking-related diseases.

Do you think these images will work? Will they reduce the number of people smoking?

GAMBLING
There are new laws from August 2007 which allow gambling to be advertised. Read about it here. Some people say this will only lead to more people addicted to gambling.

How powerful do you think advertising is?

At what age should we have criminal responsibility?

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A new report (here) says that thousands of crimes in the UK are committed by those under the age of 10. In the UK the current age for criminal responsibility is 10. This means those under 10 cannot be prosecuted for a crime. In the USA the age of criminal responsibility is 6 (in some states) but other countries have a much higher age limit (in Spain and Portugal it is 16 and in Brazil and Peru its 18!).

Do you think the age for criminal responsibility is right at 10 years old in England? Should it be higher? Should it be lower?

The Global Community.

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Click here and select 'Global Community' to find out more about fair trade and protecting the global environment.

How much do you know about the EU, UN and the Commonwealth?

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Click here and select 'EU, UN and the Commonwealth' to find out more and take a quick quiz.

Government and Parliament

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Click here and select 'government and parliament' for a quiz and background information.

Crime - how would you respond?

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Click here and select 'Crime' to see how you'd respond to witnessing a crime.

Getting involved

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Click here and select 'Community Action' to see how ordinary people can amke a difference.

Local Democracy

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Click here and then select 'local democracy' for an animation, photostory, quiz and background information.

Create a pop group!

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Click here and click on the 'Identity' section for a variety of activities, including creating your own pop group!

Rights and responsibilities

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Click here and work your way through the 'rights and responsibilities' activities.

Iraq

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How much do you know about the reasons for conflict in Iraq? Click here for a variety of activities, guides and quizes.

Can you get elected?

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Click here for the 'Race to Number 10' game to see whether you can get yourself elected!

What do the different political parties stand for?

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Do you know where the different political parties stand on issues that affect you? Click here to find out more (although they might have changed there minds on some points since the 2005 election!)

Asylum Seekers

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How much do you know about asylum seekers?

Click here to find out more.

Click here to find out more about refugees in Sudan.

Children in poverty in the UK

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Click here to see the stories and videos about young people living in poverty in the UK. Don't forget to try the game, the quiz and vote!

Identity and Diversity in Northern Ireland

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Click here
to access the resources based on Northern Ireland. Here there are activities about ethnic minorities in Northern Ireland.

Identity and Racism in Northern Ireland

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Click here to access the 'Identity and racism in Northern Ireland' resources. There are a range of different activities and videos for you.

Human rights violations

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Click here and select the 'Respect' activity to examine human rights violations in six countries.

People power

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Click here then select 'People Power' to run the flash activity where you decide who should deal with different issues.

Click here for a short quiz to see how much you know about the UK's parliamentary system.

Could you pass the UK's Citizenship test?

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Could you pass the UK's Citizenship test? Click here for the 14 multiple choice questions (this isn't the official test by the way!)

Should this be on the internet?

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A recent BBC Panorama programme highlighted the issue of 'happy slapping' (or worse!) videos being published on the web on sites like You Tube. Click here for the full story.

Once you have read the story - what do you think? Should sites like You Tube be more carefully monitored? Should violent or aggressive videos be banned totally? Or should they only be banned in certain circumstances? If so, what circumstances?

The Slave Trade

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25 March 2007 was the 200th anniversary of the 1807 Abolition of the Slave Trade Act. This Act outlawed the slave trade throughout the British Empire and made it illegal for British ships to be involved in the trade, marking the beginning of the end for the transatlantic traffic in human beings.

Read the article from the BBC at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6493507.stm
and view the video from YouTube below which shows two Archbishops' reflections on the slave pits in Zanzibar (you will need sound).

Do you think the UK should issue a public apology for their role in the slave trade?
Where else in the world is slavery still an issue today? (Hopefully you learnt something about this in your Citizenship lessons on 23rd March)

Welcome!

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There's nothing here at the moment but there will be so visit again soon!