The 16^th of May saw Year 10 asking “How does democracy affect our society?” as part of their Citizenship day.  Students started the day by quizzing Laura Moffatt, Labour Member of Parliament for Crawley. After a speech by Ms Moffatt about daily life in the House of Parliament questions were asked about housing, the environment and issues facing young people such as peer violence and employment opportunities.

The rest of the day was taken up with a thorough examination of the recently passed smoking ban, with teams taking a stance either for or against, and creating a campaign based on their views and research.  Literature such as posters and placards were produced and teams had to persuade their fellow students with a well thought out and presented campaign.  There could only be one winner however, given to the team best at St Wilfrid’s six key enterprise skills; presentation, team work, leadership, communication, problem solving and research.  House points were given to the runners up, and the overall quality of the campaigns was very high.

By participating in debate and presenting campaigns for themselves, students got a real feel for democracy at work.  The day raised some interesting questions, such as should one person’s wants and needs take precedence over another’s, or whether the smoking ban as it stands is discriminatory or doesn’t go far enough.

Students against the smoking ban peacefully protest.

            
Thoughtful debate prompted some teams to support the smoking ban.     

      
Laura Moffatt, MP for Crawley, discusses key issues with students.