Hey, people in prison need D&D too!

[pogre]

There is a letter from an inmate in the latest Dungeon.

 

[Glyfair]

There is a letter from an inmate in the latest Dungeon.

Getting Dungeon & Dragon has been discussed periodically in those magazines, along with the issues in doing so (many institutions don't allow it). Apparently whenever they run those editorials or letters they get a group of letters along the lines of "people in prison don't deserve to play D&D." Still, it's apparently something Paizo has to deal with on a regular basis.

 

[AbeTheGnome]

Mm-hmm. They wouldn't let us have magazines, either. It's not an issue of politics or religion, by the way. It was just a bummer. Speaking of religion, though, I believe the only magazine we were allowed to have was Watchtower. Seriously, though, my experience would have been much better (and probably more constructive) with a bit of RPing.

 

[VirgilCaine]

Mm-hmm. They wouldn't let us have magazines, either. It's not an issue of politics or religion, by the way. It was just a bummer. Speaking of religion, though, I believe the only magazine we were allowed to have was Watchtower. Seriously, though, my experience would have been much better (and probably more constructive) with a bit of RPing.

No magazines? I'm surprised. I was in a history class on (U.S.) prisons and saw one video where this guy had all kinds of boxes of what appeared to be files and binders and such in his cell. And some other cells with various things in them. Certainly things that were not totally necessary to life. Unfortunately I can't remember any details. But this might not be representative of anything. They might have been minimum-security prisons or something.

There was a prison library, yes? Is that not a possibility? Getting the magazine sent and stored there?

Edit: And shouldn't they let you have a choice of proportionally represented religious reading material in prison? Just one magazine seems kinda discriminatory.

 

[Corsair]

often times you'll see boxes and files in a cell in a documentary because the guy the documentary is about has a complicated on-going case, and those are his legal files.

 

[Shades of Green]

I think that D&D should be allowed, even encouraged in prisons - it's educative and it helps developing social and problem-solving skills.

 

[VirgilCaine]

often times you'll see boxes and files in a cell in a documentary because the guy the documentary is about has a complicated on-going case, and those are his legal files.

IIRC, that was true, he had a complicated ongoing case, but the footage was of the guys empty cell, IIRC, he was allegedly killed by prison guards. Or they were using his cell as overflow storage as harassment. I really can't remember.
But still, he had lots of stuff in his cell and it was surprising--no wonder they can hide knives and stuff.

 

[ivocaliban]

I think that D&D should be allowed, even encouraged in prisons - it's educative and it helps developing social and problem-solving skills.

I would like to believe this, but one must not forget the possibilities D&D allows. For instance, it would be somewhat unnerving to think of convicted murderers and rapists sitting around a gaming table thumbing through The Book of Vile Darkness for ideas. It's even conceivable that inmates could use D&D to re-create past crimes, to feed a obsession, or to help plan an escape. Some might laugh at those possibilities, but prisoners are known to use whatever is on hand to their advantage (take pruno and shivs for example).

I'm not saying it's necessarily a bad idea in general, it's when things get specific that problems arise. While I'm the first to defend D&D from those who find it inherently bad or evil, one must admit that it offers many varieties and styles of play, not all of which would be necessarily beneficial in a prison environment.

 

[Drawmack]

The wouldn't let me have hardback books in jail.

When my brother was in jail we donated the core 2e books to the jail library because he could not personally own hardcover books.

 

[Piratecat]

Ahem...Please observe the no politics & religion rules.

While we appreciate and agree with the sentiment, we have some issues with the presentation. Impersonating a mod is a bannable offense. Please make efforts not to do so.