"Freedom Road" is a powerful tool for teaching about the criminal justice system and the power
 of education.  Use the following discussion questions to open a dialogue on the issues that the
 film presents.  These questions were geared specifically towards high school students but are
 useful for a wider audience.

 1. What are your pre-conceived notions of prison or prisoners?

 2. How do the media portray people in prison?

 3. What do you think is the role of prison in society? Why do we have prisons?

 4. Do you think people who make mistakes should be given a second chance or should be
 helped? How?

 5. Ms. Vina states, “Writing about my background helped me to get rid of the stuff that was
 buried down inside.”
    a) Do any of you keep a journal?
    b) How can writing be healing?

 6. Juda makes references to a quote “Six women argued with their lives.”
    a) What does this mean—“to argue with your life”?
    b) Can you name a time when you have argued with your life? 

 7. Robin Easterling states, “The Breadgivers gave me a lot to think about as far as my life?” 
 Can you name or discuss a book a piece of writing that has resonated with you?

 8. Elaine Easterling, Robin Easterling's mother, states, “You need that education to know what’s
 being done to you?” Why does she say this?

 9. Michele Tarter states, “Education is the one thing that has been proven to reduce
 recidivism.”  What is recidivism? Why do you think this statement is true?

 10. In a statistic provided by the Sentencing Project—68% of state prison inmates do not have
 a high school diploma.
    a) What does this say about the inmate population?
    b) What does this say about opportunities for people without an education?

 11. Can you think of alternative ways that society could address crime?

 12. Elaine Easterling poses the question “Do you blame the economy or do you blame that
 person…” for the high incarceration rates of people of color? What is your opinion?

 13. Elaine also states “We don’t have enough programs yet we spend millions of dollars on this
 war. We don’t even have things in our own back yard cleaned up.”
    a) What does she mean by cleaning things up in our own back yard?
    b) If you had control of the economy what would your priorities be?

 14. Sonya Jones states, “More often you see women in prison with longer terms who have had
 no money, no access to good legal defense.” 
    a) Discuss this statement.
    b) What are some things that can be done to change this?
    c) What are things you can do (now and in the future) to address this?

 15. In a statistic provided by the Sentencing Project 43% of women inmates are African
 American and 12% are Latinos.
    a) Why do you think this is so?
    b) What are things that can be done to address this?
    c) If you were governor what are some things you would do to address this?

 16. How can you make a difference now? What can you do to change this statistic?

 17. How do you think Robin Easterling’s incarceration affects her extended family, in particular
 her mother and son?