--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Instead of making prisoners out of our…" description: "\"“Instead of making prisoners out of our students, we ought to make students out of our prisoners.”\" — Paul W. Silver" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb9/paul-w-silver-89547_education_instead-of-making-prisoners-out-of-our-s_1646535.jpg" --- # Instead of making prisoners out of our students, we ought… ![“Instead of making prisoners out of our students, we ought to make students out of our prisoners.” quote by Paul W. Silver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb9/paul-w-silver-89547_education_instead-of-making-prisoners-out-of-our-s_1646535.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb9/paul-w-silver-89547_education_instead-of-making-prisoners-out-of-our-s_1646535.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb9/paul-w-silver-89547_education_instead-of-making-prisoners-out-of-our-s_1646535.jpg) > ““Instead of making prisoners out of our students, we ought to make students out of our prisoners.”” Paul W. Silver ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Education should empower, not imprison, fostering freedom for all. **In simple terms:** Education frees, not confines. Key Takeaway Use education to empower. Themes education freedom social justice Mood inspirational critical Type Education:1 Prisoners:1 Prisons:1 Students:1 Students Prisoners:0 Prisoners Students:0 Making Prisoners:0 Students Ought:0 Make Students:0 When to use this quote - schools - prison reform - community programs Key Concepts pedagogy transformative learning Questions to Reflect On - How can curricula promote empowerment? - What barriers exist in prison education? A Different Perspective Implementation faces systemic resistance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Prisoners](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prisoners/) [Prisons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prisons/) [Students](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/students/) ## Related quotes > [I think students ought to have the right to protest, but not to the point of anarchy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnny-carson/i-think-students-ought-to-have-the-right-to-protest-but-not-to-the/) [Johnny Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnny-carson/) > [School is a jail. Classes are the cells, teachers are the security guards, and students are the prisoners.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sydney-rogers/school-is-a-jail-classes-are-the-cells-teachers-are-the-security/) [Sydney Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sydney-rogers/) > [Instead of asking, "What can I do to make these students perform?" the great teacher says, "Something's not working! I must not be truly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-demille/instead-of-asking-what-can-i-do-to-make-these-students-perform-the/) [Oliver DeMille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-demille/) > [It is clear that the chief end of mathematical study must be to make the students think.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-clear-that-the-chief-end-of-mathematical-study-must-be-to-make/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The United States contains less than 5 percent of the world’s population but houses nearly a quarter of the world’s prisoners.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabor-mat/the-united-states-contains-less-than-5-percent-of-the-world-s/) [Gabor Maté](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabor-mat/) > [Better to make prime ministers out of prisoners than prisoners out of prime ministers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-caradon/better-to-make-prime-ministers-out-of-prisoners-than-prisoners-out-of/) Lord Caradon > [“Mirrors on the ceiling, The pink champagne on ice And she said 'We are all just prisoners here, of our own device' And in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/the-eagles/mirrors-on-the-ceiling-the-pink-champagne-on-ice-and-she-said-we-are/) [The Eagles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/the-eagles/) > [Prisoners at the bar, have you anything to say in your defence?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agatha-christie/prisoners-at-the-bar-have-you-anything-to-say-in-your-defence/) [Agatha Christie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agatha-christie/) > [“Prisons are about addictions. Most prisoners are casualties of their own habits. They have all created victims, some in cruel and callous ways, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-reid/prisons-are-about-addictions-most-prisoners-are-casualties-of-their/) [Stephen Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-reid/) > [“This is far from the norm in other countries—like Germany, for instance, which allows (and even encourages) prisoners to vote.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/this-is-far-from-the-norm-in-other-countries-like-germany-for/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [“The prisoners stand on the other side, three of whom require their own cages. He hands out the Eucharist through a sort of mail…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kerry-weber/the-prisoners-stand-on-the-other-side-three-of-whom-require-their-own/) Kerry Weber > [If you take into account prisoners, a large majority of African American men in some urban areas, like Chicago, have been labeled felons for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/if-you-take-into-account-prisoners-a-large-majority-of-african/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [They came to know the incorrigible sorrow of all prisoners and exiles, which is to live in company with a memory that serves no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/they-came-to-know-the-incorrigible-sorrow-of-all-prisoners-and-exiles/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [The same things that we hurray and support in other places, like people like Nelson Mandela, our prisoners were doing the same thing, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sekou-odinga/the-same-things-that-we-hurray-and-support-in-other-places-like/) [Sekou Odinga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sekou-odinga/) > [Prisoners have benefited disproportionately from 'rights inflation' - the expansion of human rights into unforeseen nooks and crannies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dominic-raab/prisoners-have-benefited-disproportionately-from-rights-inflation-the/) [Dominic Raab](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dominic-raab/) ## More by Paul W. 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