Rules and laws: who gets to change them?

Players can agree to change a board game's turn order. That same agreement cannot change a public law. Putting those two decisions side by side gives children a concrete distinction to investigate.

A board-game turn order belongs to that game's rules; a public law is not changed by the players agreeing.

Follow the instruction back to its source

Sort the examples by their source. Identify the setting each applies to. Ask which authority could change each example.

Ask who made each requirement and how it is enforced. The same setting can contain both legal requirements and locally agreed rules.

Do not describe every adult instruction as a law.

Can children explain who can change each example? Read cards aloud and use pictures of settings.

Resources

• Fair Rule or Random Rule? — Compare proposed rules and explain their practical effects.

Further reading

• Parliamentary Education Office — classroom activities
• Australian Electoral Commission — Democracy Rules

Read next

• Three levels of government, seen through everyday services
• Draw an electorate without turning the map into a fact claim
• Vote or seek consensus? Match the method to the decision

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