Any student who has ever had a yearning to play lawyer, like Sherlock Holmes, Perry Mason, or the goofy cast of Boston Legal, can get a first-hand opportunity by participating in a Mock Trial. Going to the principal of any elementary school (take a long a sympathetic teacher to help out) can set the wheels in motion to bring this exciting legal journey to their school.
Elementary School Mock Trial Scripts
But wait! Elementary school? There must be some mistake. Most people who know about the Mock Trial experience have come to learn about it through participating high schools. Mock Trials for little kids seem darn near impossible. Enter Mock Trial kits for grades K - 6.
A Mock Trial is a script chocked full of evidence that a crime has been committed. Someone is accused of a crime and he or she is being prosecuted. There are even scripts for witnesses. The participants get to play all the parts except the judge. A lawyer is commissioned by the school to play that role and to deliver a verdict that is decided by a jury of lawyers. The verdict tells which participant side wins. It takes many months to prepare and the local Bar Association will often provide the lawyers to help students do that. The lawyers are not paid and act as volunteers.
Fairy Tale scripts are available for the youngest students in kindergarten to sixth grade. All the laughter and learning that come from these exercises can be obtained from the American Bar Association's Public Education Division in Chicago, Illinois. High School and college scripts are also available.
State Bar Association Sponsor Mock Trial Contests
Often, the State Bar Association is holding a regional competition to determine a winning Mock Trial team for a State-wide trial. All scripts for these competitions are standardized so that no matter who wins around the state, winners coming to the state capital for the final competition are prepared to argue the same case as the one they started out with. These competitions usually start in High School.
High School Mock Trials are Competitive and Unscripted
High School kits don't involve fairy tales and are unscripted. If you've never attended a student mock trial, you are in for a treat. More often than not, the lawyers who sit as judge and jury walk away shaking their heads and willing to hire the kids to work in their firm.. The trials are drama in 3-D as life is played out in a real way.
The Mock Trial is an art form. After all, being a lawyer in a trial takes honing a craft so unique it can mesmerize. Just look at all the courtroom TV. When it's your own community of kids working out life's lessons in a real experiential way, there is nothing like it. Life is art..
