Graffiti punished by reading - 'It worked!' says prosecutor


After graffitiing a historic landmark with swastikas and racist phrases, a juvenile prosecutor chose to educate rather than punish the perpetrators. Each teen was given a list of 35 books that covered topics like race, religion, and culture, and they had to pick 12 and do monthly assignments for a year. The books included titles like, I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou, and Night, by Elie Wiesel. After the year, the learning opportunity given to the teens showed demonstrable success.

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