Anna Deveare Smith uses documentary theater, more specifically verbatim theater, to explore the issue of what has become known as the School to Prison Pipeline, as well as the larger social systems and structures that feed into the issue. Smith not only offers readers a fresh look at the debate from the perspective of those most impacted by and most acquainted with the hard realities of the School to Prison Pipeline (the students, parents, teachers, administrators, as well as journalists, activists, community leaders and law makers), but more importantly, she does so in their own words.