Popular program brings lawyers and Boston Public School students together to explore freedom of speech.
May 3, 2019 – BOSTON, MA– The Boston Bar Association (BBA) is proud to announce the start of its annual “Law Day in the Schools” program that will run in 16 Boston Public Schools throughout the month of May, connecting lawyers with students in grades K-12 to learn more about the American legal system as well as the legal profession and the paths to becoming a lawyer.
During the month, more than 1,300 students are expected to participate in the in-class program, discussing the First Amendment, with a focus on free speech. Elementary school students will be learning about the life of Pakistani activist and women’s rights advocate Malala Yousafzai, who is the youngest person ever to receive the Nobel Prize. Students in middle and high school will be examining the government speech doctrine of the First Amendment and will participate in a mock City Council hearing addressing a fictitious Confederate monument.
Charlestown High School Sheltered English Immersion teacher Chris Day has participated in the program since 2016. Day, himself once a lawyer, said he greatly appreciates this opportunity for his students, most of whom don’t speak English as a first language, to learn more about the legal system and its role in protecting their rights.
“Hearing that the legal system is for them is really powerful,” Day said. “Especially coming from a lawyer. It’s important for students to know that they matter.”
Law Day in the Schools was spearheaded by the Young Lawyers Division of the Boston Bar Association in 1986 to provide students with an opportunity to better understand the law and the positive role it plays in their lives. The program has grown from engaging a few lawyers each year to now having more than 100 lawyers from over 40 area law firms and legal offices volunteering to speak to students across the city.
For more information on the program, visit the BBA website.
