Children as well as adults can become both victim and perpetrator of hate crime and patterns can be set for life.
Hate crime or hate incidents are often in the news with people displaying intolerance toward others to various degrees. Prejudice and discrimination against individuals or groups who are thought to be ‘different’ can be seen everywhere and are often reported in the news. The government have identified a number of characteristics which are protected in law and which are aimed at protecting often vulnerable or minority groups from negative behaviour – these include religion, race and sexuality.
Hate Crime and Young People
Children as well as adults can become both victim and perpetrator of hate crime and patterns can be set for life. A recent report (Nottingham Citizens 2018 – ‘Still no place for Hate’) highlights that young people are asking for more information in order to improve their knowledge, help for others to understand their actions, and for teachers to have a greater understanding of issues around hate crime.
Prejudice and discrimination against individuals or groups who are thought to be ‘different’.
How can Life Skills courses help?
Here at Lifeskills Education our hate crime education module forms part of our overall programme which addresses a number of risky behaviours and is called ‘Being Different’. Young people are given facts and information which will enable them to make positive choices about their own behaviour and increase their knowledge and awareness of the law around hate incidents, hate crime and protected characteristics. This lesson looks at poor behaviour as a continuum beginning with ‘being mean’, moving onto ‘bullying’ and finally escalating to ‘hate incident’ or ‘hate crime’. Our resources here encourage discussion and making positive choices within the context of new knowledge and using our unique SKILL DECISION MAKING MODEL. We encourage young people to explore differences both in the classroom and in society, to see these in a positive light and to treat others and themselves with respect.
