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Problem:  At-risk youth might get seduced into a life of crime if they read novels about the adventures of criminal life.  Wolf Boy is an example of such a novel.
In Paragraph 1:  Explain why assuming that books seduce people into a particular type of life is problematic thinking.
In Paragraph 2:  Explain why I would allow Wolf Boy and books like it in my classroom library or even as a class text.  Describe the book's merits.
In Paragraph 3:  Describe how I would teach the book by addressing the following questions: what are some discussions I would have with the students? How would I introduce the book to students? What are some activities I would have them do?
In Paragraph 4:  Explain whether I would use a trigger warning for the book.

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Quote: "contains information on how to conceal and smuggle illegal narcotics." Note: Both men end up serving decades in prison and the smuggling is described in very basic ways that these prisoners I'm sure already know about.

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Quote: "There's no accountability"

Note: What is banned is depended on who's working that day, how is that fair and consistent on what is considered inappropriate for prisoners to read?

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Quote: "Certain books should be banned-books about lock picking or bomb making."
Note: Books that have the potential to make inmates less cooperative should be banned.

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Quote: “Unfortunately, the courts have not been friendly to us and support the rights of prison officials instead of the rights of prisoners to educate and rehabilitate themselves.”

Note: Isn’t this the entire point of prison? To educate and rehabilitate prisoners? The article went on to mention that the person choosing which books to ban often doesn't even have a high school diploma! How are they qualified to decide?

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Prisons have four major purposes. These purposes are retribution, incapacitation, deterrence and rehabilitation. Retribution means punishment for crimes against society. Depriving criminals of their freedom is a way of making them pay a debt to society for their crimes. Incapacitation refers to the removal of criminals from society so that they can no longer harm innocent people. Deterrence means the prevention of future crime. It is hoped that prisons provide warnings to people thinking about commiting crimes, and that the possibility of going to prison will discourage people from breaking the law. Rehabilitation refers to activities designed to change criminals into law abiding citizens, and may include providing educational courses in prison, teaching job skills and offering counselling with a psychologist or social worker. The four major purposes of prisons have not been stressed equally through the years. As a result, prisons differ in the makeup of their staffs, the design of their buildings and their operations.

The prison staff is headed by a governor, who directs the operation of the prison. This official is held responsible if there are such problems as riots, escapes, prison mismanagement and brutality towards prisoners. Prison buildings vary greatly in design. Prisons built in the radial design resemble the hub and spokes of a wheel. The cells, dining hall and other facilities extend from the control centre at the hub. Warders at the control centre can observe all activity within the building. Some maximum security prisons use a different design consisting of a long corridor crossed by short corridors that hold the cells and other facilities. Prisoners must use the central corridor when they move from place to place This design allows close supervision by the warders. The high rise design is a vertical version of the corridor design. Prisoners move from floor to floor by lift. Juvenile institutions and open prisons often consist of a group of buildings surrounded by a central square. These buildings may include a library, chapel, dining hall or classrooms.

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Prisons have four major purposes. These purposes are retribution, incapacitation, deterrence and rehabilitation. Retribution means punishment for crimes against society. Depriving criminals of their freedom is a way of making them pay a debt to society for their crimes. Incapacitation refers to the removal of criminals from society so that they can no longer harm innocent people.

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Quote: "The Texas banned book list isn't just long but diverse..."
Note: it then goes on to list books that are banned and books that aren't. Some of the books that aren't banned are much worse than the banned books, so why are some banned and others not?

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Quote: "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon, which was cited for atheism."
Note: This book being banned for atheism is basically saying, "You can't think for yourself."

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Quote: Friday Night Lights is on the banned list. Note: Seriously? This book evaluates the morality of making young men into superstars at such a young age, for a sport they may never get to play outside their small Texas town.

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Welcome to a first on The Quad: a book discussion. For the next two weeks our panel (whose bios can be seen on the right) will be discussing "Friday Night Lights," Buzz Bissinger's classic nonfiction account of the madness that is Texas high school football.

Since its publication in 1990, "Friday Night Lights" has been praised and pilloried. Its supporters said it showed a community where the desire for a winning football team trumped all else, including the desegregation of schools and the individual academic qualifications of the players. Its critics called the book sensational, claiming Bissinger took the overzealous attitudes of a few and credited them to the community as a whole. It should be noted that the players whom Bissinger focused on have always described the book as truthful. It should also be noted, for the purposes of full disclosure, that Bissinger now writes an online column for The New York Times.

Many people, of course, know "Friday Night Lights" first as a movie and/or as a critically acclaimed TV show. And while both of those (especially the movie) share similarities with the book, the story of the 1988 Permian Panthers may not be familiar to all. So here's a quick summary.

The action takes place in Odessa, Tex., a boom-and-bust oil town with very little going on save the Panthers, one of the most successful teams in the state. Therefore, the weight of the community falls onto the padded teenage shoulders of the football players. Whether it's Boobie Miles, the talented black running back whose injury ruins his career and reveals a sickening strain of racism in Odessa, or Mike Winchell, the quarterback who Bissinger writes "had a look of delicate sadness as haunting as a Diane Arbus photograph."

Bissinger travels with the team throughout the season, providing glimpses of practices, team meetings and conversations between coaches as the Panthers try to win a coveted state championship. Along the way, he also reveals a town with its priorities seemingly turned upside down. In the Times' review of "Friday Night Lights," Michael Swindle wrote that it "offers a biting indictment of the sports craziness that grips not only Odessa but most of American society, while at the same time providing a moving evocation of its powerful allure."

We'll get into more of the book in greater depth as the discussion moves along, but for now, a few questions.

Bissinger writes that "Friday Night Lights" takes place in Odessa, but that it could be "anyplace in this vast land" where football is king on Friday night. I'd be interested to hear, especially from those of you who have traveled the country extensively (Dan) or those of you who live in Texas (Brian), how true you think that statement rings.

The action in this book is now 20 years old. Do the situations that Bissinger describes (overzealous parents, indifferent students and lax teachers, a focus on success in sports to the exclusion of almost everything else) still have the power to shock us? Or have we become so numbed to excess, especially in the world of athletics, that we no longer bat an eye?

And finally, is "Friday Night Lights" a sports book? Obviously, it's a book with football at its core. But too often sports books are dismissed as lightweight and "Friday Night Lights" is anything but. And in my recent re-reading of it, I was surprised by how little of "Friday Night Lights" actually took place on the field.

Let the discussion begin. And for those of you reading on the Web site, please send in comments and questions to help the discussion along.

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Welcome to a first on The Quad: a book discussion. For the next two weeks our panel (whose bios can be seen on the right) will be discussing "Friday Night Lights," Buzz Bissinger's classic nonfiction account of the madness that is Texas high school football.