Aarika Heath practices criminal law in Brampton, Ontario but her first experience in a court room took place nine years ago as a student representing Brampton Centennial Secondary School in the Peel Region Mock Trial Tournament.\u00a0 Although, at the time she was already passionate about law, she had never set foot inside a court room before. This first experience confirmed for her that here was the place she wanted to be.<\/p>\n
Today she is one of hundreds of justice sector professionals throughout the province who volunteer their time each year to go into classrooms or community centres to coach mock hearings or talk with youth about how the justice system works.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of people have preconceived ideas about lawyers,\u201d she says.\u00a0 \u201cWhat they look like, what they wear.\u00a0 When I first started practising law people often told me that I wasn\u2019t what they expected.\u00a0 I always tell students that lawyers are not all the same.\u201d<\/p>\n
In many cases, youth participating in OJEN\/ROEJ projects have never met lawyers, justices of the peace or judges and their knowledge of justice professionals is derived from television shows, movies or second hand accounts from people they know.\u00a0 Meeting and engaging with justice sector volunteers who come into their communities can profoundly affect their perception of the justice system as a whole.<\/p>\n
At a justice education project in an East Scarborough youth group, one young woman spoke of her experience meeting a defense lawyer and a police officer, both of whom had grown up in that same neighbourhood.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey had a lot of the same experiences growing up as we do and they decided the best way to change the system was from the inside.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the youth in that project, the face of the justice system had become a face they could recognize and relate to. \u00a0Meeting justice professionals with similar backgrounds to the participants humanizes an institution that can otherwise be intimidating and impersonal.\u00a0 Moreover, for youth who may already have established negative perceptions of the justice system, it offers the possibility that something positive might exist.<\/p>\n
In OJEN\/ROEJ\u2019s newcomer projects, participants discover that others who have come before them have found a place in the justice system as lawyers, justices of the peace and judges.<\/p>\n
Matching volunteers to specific projects, therefore, is an important consideration for OJEN\/ROEJ in the planning stages.\u00a0 Whether it is youth from highly policed communities, newcomer groups or high school classes preparing for a mock hearing, the impact of the project can be profoundly influenced by the volunteers delivering it.<\/p>\n
For Aarika, taking time out of a hectic schedule can be a refreshing change of pace.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s nice to spend time with young people who are so excited to know about things and to get out and be part of the community,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s challenging to answer all their questions but talking to them helps me remember what it is that I enjoy so much about the law.\u201d<\/p>\n
By Nadine Demoe<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Aarika Heath practices criminal law in Brampton, Ontario but her first experience in a court room took place nine years ago as a student representing Brampton Centennial Secondary School in the Peel Region Mock Trial Tournament.\u00a0 Although, at the time she was already passionate about law, she had never set foot inside a court room […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_eb_attr":"","inline_featured_image":false,"ub_ctt_via":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[47,58],"class_list":["post-404","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-from-the-ojen-blog","tag-justice-education","tag-volunteers"],"acf":[],"featured_image_src":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"adnan","author_link":"https:\/\/ojen.ca\/en\/author\/adnan\/"},"yoast_head":"\n