Recently while at a local pharmacy, I saw a visitor to the area collecting an emergency dose of antibiotics. When the pharmacist handed him the medication, the visitor waited briefly before asking how to pay. The pharmacist smiled brightly and informed him that there is no cost for prescriptions in Wales. This is just one of the many ways that laws and policies are different in Wales!
But it is not only the visitors to Wales that are unaware of the differences, but often the citizens of Wales themselves, especially children and young people. It is for this reasons that the post of Education and Engagement Lead was created at the Children’s Legal Centre, Wales. The post has been funded by Paul Hamlyn Foundation to develop a Wales-wide approach to young people’s (11-17) legal education on their human rights and the law as it affects them in Wales.
Since 1999 Wales has had its own Government, Senedd Cymru. The Senedd is a devolved Government that can make decisions in some areas such as health, education and transport. Since its creation it has made changes to the law, many of which have had a positive effect on the lives of children and young people. You can find out more about why the law is different in Wales, and why it’s important to know this in one of our earlier blogs!
The Children’s Legal Centre Wales carried out research in 2018 which found the provision of public legal education in Wales was patchy, inconsistent and lacking in focus on the Welsh context. Scoping sessions with young people by the Education and Engagement Lead this year confirmed this was very much still the case and that many didn’t know about laws being different in Wales. If children don’t know their legal rights, then how can they exercise them correctly?
The aim of the programme is to work directly with young people to find out which areas affect them most and to give them relevant up-to-date information about what the laws says. Areas such as age limits for various activities, working rights, rights if you are in trouble with the law etc.
Some children may have heard, through the media, about a ‘smacking ban’ but may not know that this law was passed in Wales and doesn’t apply in England. (This law had already been passed in Scotland and Jersey.)
Young people will have undoubtedly heard conversations about the 20mph speed limit changes but possibly not the reasons behind it and the fact that this is limited to Wales. It is areas such as this as well as single use plastic, free school meals and lowering the voting age that we will focus on over the coming years.
Our aim is to carry out outreach work and to develop educational resource packs, to provide children and young people with knowledge of the different laws in Wales that affect them. Resource packs will include lesson plans, class activities, videos and infographics. Through educating young people about their legal rights, we believe there will be a positive impact on young people enjoying and using their human rights in everyday life.
Keep checking in on our website for information on the Education and Engagement Programme at the Children’s Legal Centre for Wales.