Lesson video

Hello, my name's Ms. Willow.

And I'm going to be your teacher for today's lesson.

Today's lesson is called Discrimination and Law in Britain, and it fits into the unit Communities: How Can We Show Respect to People of Different Races and Cultures? During this lesson, we are going to be talking about discrimination.

So for this reason, we recommend that you have an adult with you.

If, at any point, you do feel worried or uncomfortable, it's really important that you stop the video and that you speak to a trusted adult.

Okay, let's make a start on today's lesson.

By the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to explain what discrimination means and describe how the law in Britain protects people from unfair treatment.

Before we get started with today's lesson, we need to go over some ground rules.

These help to make sure that everyone feels safe and comfortable during today's lesson.

First of all, Laura says that we need to listen to others.

This means that if someone else is speaking, we are not going to talk over them.

Next, Andeep says that we need to respect each other's privacy, and this means that we're not going to ask anyone any personal questions, as this can make some people feel uncomfortable.

Next, Jacob says, "No judgment." This means that if someone chooses to share a feeling, a story, or an experience, we are not going to judge them for it.

And finally, Izzy says that we can choose our level of participation.

This means that it's up to us how much we want to join in.

We're now going take a look at the keywords in today's lesson.

These keywords are gonna come up multiple times in today's lesson.

So it's really important that we have a good understanding of what each of these words mean.

First of all, we have the keyword discrimination.

Discrimination is treating a person unfairly because of their characteristics.

Our next keyword is characteristic.

This is an important trait or feature of a person.

Next, we have stereotype.

A stereotype is an unfair belief about someone based on their characteristics.

And finally, we have the Equality Acts of 2010.

This is the law that protects people in Britain from discrimination.

Today's lesson is split into two learning cycles.

Our first learning cycle is called What is Discrimination? And our second learning cycle is called How Does the Law Protect Against Discrimination? Let's make a start on our first learning cycle, What is Discrimination? Discrimination is the unfair treatment of a person based on their characteristics.

Someone's characteristics are an important trait or feature of a person.

Andeep says, "I'm a boy, and I'm Sikh." Andeep's sex is male, and his religion is that he's Sikh.

Both his sex and religion are characteristics.

In the UK, we have laws which protect people's characteristics.

The law defines these as protected characteristics.

These are important features about who we are that make us unique.

Everyone has these characteristics, and the law says that we must be treated fairly, regardless of what ours are.

The nine protected characteristics in Britain are age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnerships, pregnancy and maternity, race and ethnicity, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.

David says, "I'm a boy, and I'm Black." Holly says, "I'm a girl, and I'm 14." Savannah says, "I'm in a same sex relationship, and I'm pregnant." What characteristics are presented in these examples? Pause the video, talk to the people around you, or have a think to yourself.

Okay, let's see what you might have said.

You might have said that David's protected characteristics are his sex and his race and ethnicity.

You might have said that Holly's protected characteristics are her sex and her age.

And you might have said that Savannah's protected characteristics are her sexual orientation and her pregnancy.

Remember that all of these characters will have different protected characteristics, and they'll have protected characteristics that aren't just the ones mentioned here.

Let's do a check for understanding to see how you're doing so far.

What are protected characteristics, can you remember, A, special talents and skills that make someone good at their job, B, important features about who we are that make us unique, and C, things we can choose to change about ourselves whenever we want? What's our protected characteristics? Pause the video, talk to the people around you.

or have a think to yourself.

Well done if you said that B is correct.

Protective characteristics are important features about who we are that make us unique.

Well done if you said the same thing.

If someone experiences unfair treatment because of a characteristic that they have, this is called discrimination.

And there are different types of discrimination.

So, for example, there's racial discrimination, this is discrimination based on someone's ethnicity.

There's sex discrimination, and this is discrimination based on whether someone is male or female.

There's also age discrimination, so this is discrimination based on how old someone is.

Let's do a check for understanding to see how you're doing.

Which of these is an example of discrimination, A, Holly has been told that she can't join the football team because she's a girl, and B, Holly has been told that she can't join the football team because their team is full? Which of those examples is an example of discrimination? Pause the video, talk to the people around you, or have a think to yourself.

Well done if you said that A is correct.

A is an example of discrimination because in this scenario, Holly has been told that she can't join the football team because of a protected characteristic that she has.

This is her sex, that she's a girl.

Well done if you said the same thing.

There are lots of different causes of discrimination, and one of these causes is the belief in harmful stereotypes.

Ms. Walsh says that, "When people believe harmful stereotypes, for example, that one ethnicity is better or worse at something than another, they can treat people unfairly.

And this unfair treatment is discrimination." Sophia wants to share her story.

Sophia says, "Some people assume that I like certain foods because of my ethnicity and because of where my family come from." And Josiah says that, "Some people assume that I'm good at certain sports because of where I was born, but this isn't true." Harmful stereotypes can also lead to prejudiced thinking.

This means forming unfair opinions about someone before getting to know them based on their characteristics, like how they look or who they are.

Jack says, "Some people assume because of the clothes I wear and how I speak that I'm going to behave in an unkind or disrespectful way." Let's do another check for understanding to see how you're doing.

For this task, I'd like you to fill in the blanks.

Harmful blank can lead to blank thinking or discrimination.

Where I've said the word blank, can you decide which word is missing? Pause the video, talk to the people around you, or have a think to yourself.

Well done if you said that the missing words were stereotypes and prejudiced.

Our full sentence now says, "Harmful stereotypes can lead to prejudiced thinking or discrimination." Well done if you got this right.

It's now time to move on to our first practice task.

And well done for your hard work so far.

For the first part of this task, I'd like you to match the type of discrimination to the correct description.

So here's a list of the different types of discrimination, religious, racial, sex, and sexual orientation.

And here's the descriptions, discrimination based on whether someone is male or female, discrimination based on who someone is attracted to, discrimination based on someone's religion or beliefs, and discrimination based on someone's ethnicity.

Can you match the type of discrimination to the correct description? Pause the video, and we'll go through the answers in a few minutes.

Okay, let's see what your answers should look like.

Religious discrimination is discrimination based on someone's religion or beliefs.

Racial discrimination is discrimination based on someone's ethnicity.

Sex discrimination is discrimination based on whether someone is male or female.

And finally, discrimination because of sexual orientation is discrimination based on who someone is attracted to.

Well done if you matched these up correctly.

For the second part of this task, I'd like you to read the scenario and answer these questions.

Uzma is in her maths class at university when the person next to her, Marcus, makes an unkind comment about her hijab.

When she asks another person for help with her work, Marcus says that they shouldn't help her because girls aren't good at maths.

The first question that I'd like you to answer is, what has Uzma experienced? And the second question that I'd like you to answer is, what characteristics has Marcus made comments about? Pause the video, and we'll go through the answers in a few minutes.

Okay, let's see what you might have said.

For the first question, what has Uzma experienced? You might have said that Uzma has experienced discrimination.

Discrimination is the unfair treatment of a person based on their characteristics.

And for the second question, what characteristics has Marcus made comments about? You might have said that Marcus has made comments about Uzma's religion, being a Muslim and wearing a hijab, and her sex, that she is female.

Well done if you had this or something similar.

We are now moving on to our second learning cycle, How Does the Law Protect Against Discrimination? In Britain, it is illegal, so it is against the law to treat a person unfairly because of their protected characteristics.

Ms. Walsh tells us that, "When someone is treated unfairly because of their protected characteristics, they can feel upset and angry and unwanted, and like they don't belong, and this can affect their self-esteem too." Everyone has the right to be treated fairly and with respect.

So this means being kind and polite to others, celebrating each other's differences, being respectfully curious about each other's needs, identities, and experiences.

When everyone is treated with respect, people feel happy, safe, and included, and this is really important.

The Equality Act of 2010 protects people against discrimination.

It outlines the nine protected characteristics.

The Equality Act means that it's unlawful to discriminate against someone because of any of these protected characteristics.

Remember, these protected characteristics are sexual orientation, age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion, or belief, and sex.

Let's do a check for understanding to see how you're doing.

Which protected characteristic is missing from this list, race and ethnicity, religion or belief, age, sexual orientation, sex, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, and marriage and civil partnerships? Which protected characteristic is missing from that list? Pause the video, talk to the people around you, or have a think to yourself.

Well done if you said that disability is the missing protected characteristic in that list.

The Equality Act protects everyone in Britain.

Everyone has multiple protected characteristics.

Philip says, "I'm a man, and I'm a Christian.

I have a wife and two children." Philip's multiple protective characteristics are that he's a man, he's a Christian, and he has a wife, so he's married.

Adaku's protective characteristics are that she's a woman, she's a Muslim, and that she uses a wheelchair, so she has a disability.

Both of these people are protected under the Equality Act.

The Equality Act of 2010 also protects people at work from discrimination.

This person wants to share their story.

They say, "I was really successful in my job, and I was told that I was going to get a promotion.

Then when I got pregnant, they said that they weren't going to promote me anymore." This is an example of pregnancy and maternity discrimination.

This means that they've been treated unfairly because they're pregnant or because they've recently had a baby, and need time off to care for their child.

Employers who are bosses or people who run companies, who discriminate against employees, so these people that work for them.

can face serious consequences.

Police Officer Paula tells us that, "Discrimination is taken very seriously.

An employer may have to go to court, where a judge decides if they've broken the law, pay the employee money to make up for the unfair treatment, and they may have to pay a fine as well." Let's do a check for understanding to see how you're doing.

This time, I'd like you to decide if the statement is true or false.

The Equality Act of 2010 only protects some groups of people.

What do you think? Talk to the people around you, or have a think to yourself.

Well done if you said that this is false.

But why? You might have said that the Equality Act protects everyone in Britain because everyone has multiple protected characteristics.

Well done if you said this or something similar.

Unfortunately, there are some people who commit crimes against someone because of a protected characteristic or a perceived protected characteristic that they have.

And these crimes are called hate crimes.

The law recognizes hate crimes against someone because of their protected characteristics, such as their race or ethnicity, religion or belief, sexual orientation, and a disability.

Hate crimes can be reported to the police.

either on 999 in an emergency, or on 101 in a non-emergency.

There are also ways to report discrimination online.

If someone sends hateful messages on social media, these can be reported using the app's reporting system, and you could always ask a trusted adult to help you with this.

Most social media platforms have a Report button that you can click when you see harmful or discriminatory content.

It's also possible to block people who are being unkind, which stops them from contacting or messaging that person.

Ms. Walsh says that, "It's important to seek support from a trusted adult if you've experienced discrimination of any kind or if you've seen it happen.

This could be a parent, carer, or teacher, or another adult that you know offline that you trust to keep you safe.

Help is available, and you should be taken seriously.

And if the first person that you tell doesn't help you properly, it's important to keep asking for help until you are heard, listened to, and believed.

Remember, discrimination and hate crimes are never your fault.

And everyone deserves to be treated fairly and with respect." Let's do another check for understanding.

How can you report a hate crime or discrimination, can you remember, A, contact the police, B, tell A trusted adult, C, use online reporting tools, or D, tell a friend? How can you report a hate crime or discrimination? Pause the video, talk to the people around you, or have a think to yourself.

Well done if you said that A, B, and C are correct.

If we need to, we can report a hate crime or discrimination by contacting the police, telling a trusted, adult and using online reporting tools.

Well done if you got this right.

We're now moving on to our final practice task.

And well done for your hard work so far.

For this final task, I'd like you to complete the sentences to show your understanding of both the law and discrimination.

So in Britain, the Equality Act of 2010 protects.

The Equality Act outlines nine.

Employers who discriminate can face.

A hate crime is.

And if you experience discrimination, you should.

Can you complete those sentences that I've just read out to show your understanding of the law and discrimination? Pause the video, and we'll go through some model answers in a few minutes.

Okay, let's see what your answers could look like.

You might have said that in Britain, the Equality Act of 2010 protects everyone.

The Equality Act outlines nine protected characteristics.

Employers who discriminate can face serious consequences.

A hate crime is a crime against someone because of a protected characteristic or perceived protected characteristic that they have.

And finally, you might have said that if you experience discrimination, you should tell a trusted adult.

Well done if your sentences were anything like this.

It's now time to summarize the key learning from today's lesson.

In today's lesson, we've learned that discrimination happens when someone is treated unfairly because of their characteristics.

Prejudiced viewpoints and discrimination can be caused by harmful stereotypes.

In Britain, it's against the law to discriminate against someone because of their characteristics.

Everyone has the right to feel safe, happy, and respected, and this happens when everyone is treated fairly.

The Equality Act of 2010 protects people from discrimination and outlines nine protective characteristics.

And finally, we've learned that it's important to seek support from a trusted adult if you experience discrimination.

During this lesson, you might have found that you've got some worries or questions.

And if you do, it's really important that you share these with a trusted adult.

There's also a resource on the screen that's there to help you too.

Well done for your fantastic hard work today.

I hope to see you again soon.