Teenagers Who Vandalized Historic Black Schoolhouse Are Ordered to Read Books

After teenagers in Virginia pleaded guilty to vandalizing an historic black schoolhouse, the judge sentenced them to read 12 books geared to build their background knowledge on African American history, the Holocaust, and the history of discrimination. My first two reactions: (1) It’s great to treat this as a learning opportunity, (2) Reading for punishment isn’t great. (At least the reading list involves choice.)