THE LAW

NORMS, RULES AND LAWS Which is most serious? What do they mean?

LORD OF THE FLIES, BY WILLIAM GOLDING He [Ralph] jumped down from the terrace. The sand was thick over his black shoes and the heat hit him. He became conscious of the weight of his clothes, kicked his shoes off fiercely and ripped off each stocking with its elastic garter in a single movement. Then he leapt back on the terrace, pulled off his shirt, and stood there among the skull-like coconuts with green shadows from the palms and forest sliding over his skin. He undid the snake-clasp of his belt, lugged off his shorts and pants, and stood there, naked, looking at the dazzling beach and the water.

-Chapter 1, Paragraph 53

What norm has Ralph ‘broken’?

WHAT IS LAW? Logan has over 280,000 people all interacting via schools, jobs and friendship and community groups.

In society most people recognise that there must be rules to regulate their interactions and keep society operating properly.

To be effective, these rules need to be generally recognised and accepted by members of society.

These rules create rights and responsibilities for society’s members and society agrees to live by them.

These rules are enforced and are called the ‘law’.

Regulate: control

Enforced: law is applied; checks are made to ensure people are following rules

QUESTIONS1. Describe a rule at school that you think is strictly

followed by students. Why do you think it is followed?

2. What is a rule at school that you know is not follow? Why do you think this is?

3. Why must laws be enforced? 4. What would happen if laws were not enforced?

Rights: things you should be allowed to do/have Responsibilities: things you should be doing/not doing Rules create rights and responsibilities for members of any community – school, family, sporting or society in general.

Eg. ‘Don’t run on the concrete’ – RIGHT to safety, RESPONSIBILITY to ensure others’ safety.

In you books make two columns. Make lists of the rights and responsibilities you have because of the rules that exist in one of the following: Your families School Society

WHY WE NEED LAWS

1 John 3:4 (ESV)Everyone who

makes a practice of sinning also

practices lawlessness; sin is

lawlessness.

SWANSON SCHOOL, AUCKLAND, NZ Watch: https://youtu.be/r1Y0cuufVGI (on Learner.Link, 12 minutes))

Do you agree with the Principal’s philosophy? What dangers/risks can you see? What benefits are there? Do you agree that ‘overprotection can do more harm than good’?

In society, do we overprotect?

Imagine what society would be like without road laws. What would the risks be?

No road laws

Drive as fast as you want

Don’t stop at traffic lights

Don’t obey signs

Ignore lines on road; drive

down whichever

side

No indication

Dangerous society

High risk of being

injuredHigh risk of

property being

damagedPeople refuse to

use transport

People don’t go to work

Effects economy

Affect people’s

social interactions

If this happened, society would be forced to create laws that regulate the driving of a vehicle.

http://www.mchumor.com/00images/4626_driving_cartoon_RR.gif

These laws have a good consequences for society and are in place for a reason: To protect their safety – ie. Fewer accidents To recognise and protect their freedoms and interests – ie. Legal

right to compensation To ensure that society functions properly – ie. Make people feel

comfortable to drive To produce fair outcomes – ie. Compensation

1 John 3:4 (ESV) Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.

There are thousands of rules that make up the law. Most of these have been introduced for at least one of the reasons on the previous slide.

QUESTIONS1.What do we mean when we say that rules have ‘good consequences for society’?

2.What consequences are there for:I. The persons breaking the law?II. The victims?III. Society in general?

3.Decide which of the four reason for creating laws explains why the following laws exist (first one is an example):• The law against saying things that are likely to damage another

person’s name or reputation (defamation).

The law of defamation recognizes and protects the interests of people in society. It also produces fair outcomes – a person whose reputation is likely to suffer from the comments of another has the legal right to compensation.

• The law against physical attack (assault) or its attempt• The law against stealing• The laws against discrimination• The law against sexual harassment• The law against holding and using a mobile phone while driving a

car

COMPEL, RESTRICT, PROHIBIT

Compel: require

someone to do something

• Eg. The law that says we must pay for goods we buy at a shop.

Restrict: limit a person’s

behaviour• Eg. The law

that says we can apply for a learner’s permit at a certain age.

Prohibit: forbid a person from

doing a particular thing• Eg. The law

that says we are not allowed to use violence towards another person.

There are different kinds of laws. Laws that compel us to do certain things, laws that restrict us from doing certain things, and laws that prohibit us from doing certain things.

These laws can also create rights. For example, the law that prohibits us from harming another person, gives that other person the right to claim compensation for their injuries.

QUESTION Think of an example (or examples if you’re keen) of laws that: Compel Restricts Prohibits

COMPROMISE The idea behind laws that restrict and prohibit is that we cannot do everything we want to do.

We, as members of society who enjoy the rights and privileges we have, agree to follow rules that are created to make society work properly.

It is all give and take – at home you may want to play loud music, your sibling may want to take on the phone and your parents may want some peace and quiet. We cannot have everything; we have to compromise.

We cannot insist that we have the right to do something that interferes with someone else’s right.

We cannot claim a right to kill people as that interferes with other people’s right to live.

In modern society, just as at home and school, we have to give and take.