Worksheet Week 1: PlayStations in Prison A) Brainstorming: What words do you associate with prison? B) Prison opinions: Do you agree with these opinions?  Prisoners should never be allowed to have things like computer games.  Violent computer games make everyone violent.  Prisoners should be allowed to take their own PlayStations to their cells.  Prisoners should work or study in their cells, not play games.  Prisoners need to relax. PlayStation is a good way of relaxing.  I’d like to be locked in a cell for 20 hours with nothing but a PlayStation.  If PlayStations help keep prisons quiet, every prisoner should have one.  Spending taxpayers’ money on games consoles for prisoners is an outrage.

Adult prisoners in England and Wales are to be banned by the Prison Service from playing computer games rated 18. 5

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Good behaviour will allow offenders to play other games, and those at risk of suicide will be also given access. However, eligible inmates would have to buy consoles themselves as the new rules ban prisons from buying games or consoles with immediate effect. The Prison Reform Trust said games were "no substitute for purposeful activity like work or education classes". It said these were being cut back as a result of prison overcrowding. Last year the government spent more than £10,000 on 80 PlayStations and 15 Xboxes for young offender institutions. All prisons have been told to remove 18-rated games - not suitable for people aged under 18 - by 30 September. 'Well-behaved' Under Prison Service rules, only inmates who have reached the "enhanced" level on the Incentives and Earned Privileges (IEP) scheme should have access to games consoles. Those are the inmates "who are demonstrably well-behaved, who commit to their sentence plan and fully comply with the prison regime", the Prison Service said. The IEP scheme also offers other rewards such as extra visits, access to in-cell televisions and the right to wear one's own clothes. A Prison Service spokesman said: "Access to privileges increases our ability to demonstrate to prisoners that constructive and appropriate behaviour will be positively recognised. "Privileges will be withdrawn immediately should the prisoner's behaviour fall below that expected of the enhanced level of the IEP scheme. "This instruction ensures consistency across the prison estate with regards to the use of games consoles as part of the earned privileges scheme. "Prisoners who are being managed under suicide prevention measures will be allowed access to a games console to occupy them while they are vulnerable." The Prison Service also said "no further public money" should be spent on video games. "For those prisoners permitted to use games consoles in cell, the cost of purchasing consoles and games will rest solely upon the prisoner and will not be met by the taxpayer," the spokesman added. 'Keeping order' Geoff Dobson, deputy director of the Prison Reform Trust, said that because of overcrowding, prisoners were "spending more and more time in their cells doing nothing". "I don't think anyone would have a great problem with incorporating these into a good behaviour programme, but we should not forget the usefulness of these games to prison officers and governors keeping order in overcrowded prisons," he said. "But the bottom line is access to computer games is no substitute for purposeful activity like work or education classes, both of which are being cut back because the government is failing to tackle the underlying reasons for the rise in the prison population."

At present, video games only get a mandatory review by classifiers if they contain "human sexual activity" or "gross violence". But in March a government-backed review said the ratings system should be overhauled to increase the number of games subject to scrutiny. BBC News C. Synonym Match: Match the words of the fist column with their synonyms: 1. banned a. heart of the matter 2 Inmate b. act 3. Overcrowding c. prisoner 4. Behave d. forbidden 5. Comply with e. inspection 6. Order f. obligatory 7. Bottom line g. peace 8. Purposeful h. excessive number of people 9. Mandatory i. obey 10. Rating j. meaningful 11. Overhaul k. renovate 12. Scrutiny l. score

D. Right/Wrong: Say whether the following statements are right or wrong. Justify with a quotation from the text. 1. The British government spent £20,000 on PlayStations last year. T/F __________________________________________________________________________ 2. Prisons will stop buying PlayStation consoles and games for prisoners. T/F __________________________________________________________________________ 3. Prisoners are no longer allowed to buy PlayStations while in prison. T/F __________________________________________________________________________ 4. The IEP is a programme that only deals with video games. T/F __________________________________________________________________________ 5. Prisoners on suicidal watch won’t have access to video games because they are too T/F stressful. __________________________________________________________________________ 6. A prison reformer said PlayStations help keep the peace in prisons. T/F __________________________________________________________________________ 7. There aren’t too many prisoners in British prison cells. T/F __________________________________________________________________________ 8. The reformer said education classes are better than PlayStations. T/F ____________________________________________________________________________

E. Pair Work: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS What did you think when you read the headline? What springs to mind when you hear the word ‘prison’? Do you think prisoners should have PlayStations in their cells? What is the most important role of a prison? Do you think PlayStations can serve a useful purpose in prisons? Should a government buy PlayStations for prisoners or poor children? Do you think violent video games make prisoners more violent? Is it a good idea for prisons to keep a few PlayStations for suicidal prisoners? Do video games stop you from getting depressed? What do you think of the prison PlayStation Project?

STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Did you like reading this article? Would you be angry if your government spent money on video games consoles for prisoners? What should prisoners be allowed to have in their cells? Should inmates be allowed PlayStations for prisons to be peaceful? Does giving prisoners a PlayStation reduce the punitive effect of prison? If you were a prison officer, would you like all prisoners to have PlayStations? How do you keep the peace in overcrowded prisons? How frustrated do you get when you have nothing to do? Is the bottom line letting no prisoners play games? What useful activity should prisoners do in prison?

F. Listen to the recording and fill in the blanks The ____________________ of British prisons have ____________________ playing computer games that have an adult rating. ____________________, prison authorities have also decided not to buy any more games or games ____________________ for prisoners. However, they are allowing prisoners ____________________ buy their own PlayStations or XBoxes. Prisons can also allow prisoners ____________________ to play games to keep them occupied. The new ____________________ on the games culture in prisons is because of a fear that many games ____________________ violent. The Prison Service has called an end to its PlayStation Project, where games ____________________ were given to highly dangerous prisoners. The reason for ____________________ prison gaming was to stop prisoners ____________________ depressed. G. Translation Si un détenu veut bénéficier des ces avantages, il doit faire preuve de bonne conduite. _______________________________________________________________________________________ Les contribuables pourraient penser qu'il est injuste de récompenser des prisonniers en leur offrant des consoles pour les occuper. _______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ Il ne faudrait pas oublier l'utilité de ces jeux en ce qui concerne les gardiens de prison. _______________________________________________________________________________________ H. Grammar A. What is the common pattern to the following sentences? 1. Those at risk of suicide will be also given access to video games. 2. It said education classes were being cut back as a result of prison overcrowding. 3. All prisons have been told to remove 18-rated games 4. Privileges will be withdrawn immediately should the prisoner's behaviour fall below that expected of the enhanced level of the IEP scheme. 5. No further public money" should be spent on video games. 6. The ratings system should be overhauled to increase the number of games subject to scrutiny. B. Rephrase the preceding sentences using the following prompts: 1. Authorities ___________________________________________________________________________ 2. It said that the government_______________________________________________________________ 3. The Home Secretary____________________________________________________________________ 4. Prison officers_________________________________________________________________________ 5. Prison governors_______________________________________________________________________ 6. Authorities____________________________________________________________________________