Designated Doodler

I love Orange is the New Black. I love the questions it raises about humanity, morality and our country's jacked up criminal justice system. While at TCU I attended a seminar held by falsely imprisoned men who had lost decades for crimes they didn't commit. I have such a passion for criminal justice and it makes me sick that we throw people into a system that only hardens them and encourages recidivism. I'm all for justice. But I'm also for humanity. I can't even explain the many ways my heart broke hearing these men talk about how they were scapegoated for crimes they didn't commit. One of them wasn't even in the same state as the crime when it was committed! It's absolutely unreal...the horror stories that are out there told by people who have lost huge chunks of their lives to a broken system. And who do we have to fix this system? Politicians who don't care? Prison administration who just wants to fill racks and cut cost...

The other day I was talking with my students and asking them what book they are currently reading in English. After a heavy sigh and a groan one student said, "The Scarlet Letter." To which I replied…"hey, that's a great book. I read it for fun a few summers back." You should have seen the look on their faces, hahaha. "Why on earth would you do that?!" one girl asked in disbelief.  "Well, because it's a classic and I never read it in high school - it wasn't in our curriculum. So I wanted to read it!" Two girls exchanged a shocked look and they turned their attention back to the worksheet in their laps.  "Is it so crazy that I like to read for fun?" I asked. "YES!" was the resounding answer. One girl went on to tell me that her mother used reading as a PUNISHMENT for when she was bad as a child. Another student told me that they couldn't even make it through the first Harry Potter book because ...