STEPHEN LEWIS goes back to school to see how our young people are being taught

to be model citizens of the future

'I HAVE won the lottery, and bought a Ferrari," says John Molyneux. "Where could I park it in York without having to watch it all the time?" Several hands shoot up. "In a vault underground!" says someone. "In Tang Hall," adds another.

"In the Micklegate car park!"

"You could park it in my driveway," says a girl sitting in the corner of the class. "I'd look after it for you." Everyone laughs.

Welcome to John's citizenship class at Fulford School. During the next few weeks and months, the 14-year-olds here - in common with teenagers at more than 5,000 schools up and down the country - will be tackling issues such as why it is important to have laws, why we all have responsibilities as well as rights, and why it is vital to take an active role in your local community and exercise the right to vote.

Along the way, they will also be learning about how our political and legal systems work, the importance of the media - and why it is important to respect and understand those from different backgrounds and religions.

Classes in citizenship, which became compulsory for every secondary school in England from the beginning of this term, are the latest brainwave to try to turn the youngsters of today - often unfairly branded apathetic and alienated - into model citizens.

"It is about trying to make them aware of the need to take responsibility for themselves and the world around them, and to become involved," explains John. "That way we can have a greater sense of pulling together as a community."

Hence today's class: what John - head of religious and social education at Fulford - calls his "What if?" class.

The 14-year-olds here - very few of whom appear either apathetic or alienated - have been given a series of small cards with hypothetical statements on: "What if you could trust everyone absolutely?"; "what if everyone thought it was all right to shoplift?", "what if there were no laws?"

In pairs and small groups, the class are being asked to discuss what the consequences might be. To help them, John has given them a second series of "consequences" cards to match with the "what if" cards: "There would be chaos as there would be no rules to live by"; "goods in shops would cost more".

The idea is to get the teenagers thinking about their own behaviour. In the class discussion that follows, John deftly leads them in the direction he wants them to go. One of the card pairings reads: "What if everyone decided it would be OK to vandalise other people's property.?" The consequence card says: "My belongings would never be safe." That's where John came in with his question about owning a Ferrari.

He is clearly trying to make the youngsters aware of the responsibilities they have as young citizens - but doing it in a low-key way that relates responsibilities to everyday things they are familiar with. Vandalism brings him neatly on to the subject of chewing gum. What happens if you look under your desks for chewing gum? he asks. "Not that I want you to, just feel under your desks."

"Yuuck!" go the class, squirming with distaste at the thought of touching the chewing gum stuck there.

What could be done to stop pupils sticking gum under the desks, he asks?

A boy shoots his hand up. "Legalise it?" he suggests. "If you were allowed to chew gum openly..."

"You wouldn't have to stick it there afterwards," John finishes for him.

It's a fair point, which leads on to a discussion about litter, and clearing litter up, and school litter squads, and how if nobody ever dropped litter, litter squads would not have to go round picking up other people's rubbish. Notions of responsibility, in other words, neatly wrapped up in terms young people will immediately identify with. John admits that as an RE teacher, he has always touched upon many of the issues he is now teaching in his citizenship classes. What's different is that citizenship itself is now part of the National Curriculum.

That doesn't necessarily mean teenagers will be attending specific classes in citizenship. Schools have been given a choice of how they approach the subject: having a stand-alone subject called Citizenship; Merging Citizenship With PSHE (Personal, Social and Health Education); or adopting a "cross-curricular" approach in which citizenship is "taught" through other subjects such as history and geography.

At Fulford, admits assistant head teacher Lorna Savage, a conscious decision was made not to have separate citizenship classes. Instead, it is taught through lessons such as geography and history and through PHSE. "We felt it should naturally evolve from what's being taught," she says.

Pupils in classes such as John's are clearly aware of what is being taught, however - and seem enthusiastic about it. "It makes you think about what's wrong with the world and how we should behave better," says 14-year-old Philippa Bailey, after John's class is over. "The world would be a better place if you could trust everyone," adds her classmate Grace Ng.

So far, then, so good. The kinds of things being taught in John's classes are being taught to every teenager in the land. York, however, is taking the teaching of Citizenship a step further than many other local authority areas - out into the community.

With the help of funding from the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust, a "democracy through citizenship" project has been set up in York in partnership with local schools, the education authority and the voluntary sector.

Its aim is to provide young people in the city with opportunities to get directly involved in their community.

"It's about giving young people the opportunity to take learning out of school," says Democracy Through Citizenship project director Bernie Flanagan.

"So for example, if they are learning about democracy, what about getting involved with a local ward committee?

"Young people are the citizens of the future. They certainly have views - and often very cogent, very sensible views. Citizenship should be about young people being able to express those views.

"All this talk about young people being demotivated can be quite a mythologised thing.

"I think people just need to be given the opportunity and they will show their true colours."

It seems so obvious you are left wondering why nothing like this has been done on this scale before. But if classes in citizenship and in the community programmes can really help young people feel more involved, it must be a good thing.

And who knows, it might even mean a few more ticks on ballot papers at the next election.

Nine steps to citizenship:

Democracy Through Citizenship asked young people in York what they thought made a good citizen.

This is what they replied:

- Respect for others

- A sense of responsibility

- Willingness to help others

- Fairness

- Willingness to listen to other people's views

- Reliability

- Trustworthiness

- Willingness to take part in the community

- Taking a pride in your local area - and looking after it

Updated: 10:22 Friday, October 11, 2002