Comments on: Detention — whose punishment is it REALLY?

By: Paul Durgala

Paul Durgala — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 16:38:07 +0000

I’m a teacher of twenty years experience so I do have some first hand knowledge of schools, and how they operate. Generally speaking, we don’t punish kids anymore. Punishment is the application of pain, so spanking a child or being emotionally hostile to them would be an example of punishment.

I’ve read that generally the carrot works better than the stick. In other words, if you’re trying to change a kids’ behavior what sort of incentive can you give that would encourage them to change? For example, you coud have a school-wide fun day (ie. a trip, or a day at the roller rink, or a pool party), but students who recieve more than two “X’s” (unfinished homework, behaving badly in class, being disrespectful to an adult) will not be allowed to participate. They will be given extra work while the others have fun.

Of course, one of the problems with incentives is that they cost money. A day at the roller rink may be expensive if your looking at 200-300 kids. The other problem is that incentives have a diminishing return. Once the newness wears off the kids want something better. Where does it stop…. a trip to the Bahamas?

What do middle-shool age kids value? Friendships? Relationships? Social time? Why not have a school fun night with popcorn and maybe a movie, but the offenders would not get to participate.

I certainly don’t have all of the answers. I’d welcome any input.

By: Sarah E. Ludwig

Sarah E. Ludwig — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 03:53:49 +0000

Wow, Julie, that’s awful. These punishments seem awfully extreme. I understand teaching kids responsibility, but there needs to be some flexibility, for pete’s sake!

By: Sarah E. Ludwig

Sarah E. Ludwig — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 03:51:48 +0000

Good call, Meredith. This could make an excellent story. Evidently many parents can relate, going by my Facebook comments as well.

By: Sarah E. Ludwig

Sarah E. Ludwig — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 03:50:54 +0000

Yes, you’re right, Stephanie. Detention was for REALLY bad stuff when I was a kid. Only the worst-behaved kids received detention.

Yesterday though, evidently somewhere around 10 6th graders (out of 31) had to stay after school, mostly because they didn’t bring back their science fair project sheets with parent signatures. Sheesh!

By: Sarah E. Ludwig

Sarah E. Ludwig — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 03:48:36 +0000

Yeah, no kidding, Christina. I don’t work outside the home, but I *do* work and it sucks to have to go pick up a kid who should be arriving home with her siblings on the school bus.

They need to come up with something else. Right now, a detention is given for ANY misdeed, no matter how trivial or serious.

My one daughter, not the one who has been put in detention, is getting seriously stressed out with this whole middle school thing. It’s quite disturbing.

By: Sarah E. Ludwig

Sarah E. Ludwig — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 03:46:48 +0000

Exactly! 9 towns, wow. I knew it was a lot!

By: Sarah E. Ludwig

Sarah E. Ludwig — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 03:45:18 +0000

They don’t have recess at this school, no. They have a bit of free time after lunch, but most of the girls are slow eaters and spend the majority of the time eating and gabbing.

That would be a great idea though. Too bad it doesn’t work here.

By: Julie Turner

Julie Turner — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 01:45:06 +0000

That’s okay, at one of the high schools that I attended, you had detention every time you were tardy. Oh, and one time, they canceled detention, but we had no way of calling our parents to let them know, unless we used our own cell phone. Of course, it’s against the rules to have those at school anyway, isn’t it?

That same school made my mom leave work so that she could pick up my student ID from home and bring it to me–the first and only time I forgot it–so that I wouldn’t get suspended… for five days. My friend who got caught with cigarettes at school? Well, he handed them over without having to be searched, so they only gave him 3 days suspension.

By: Meredith Resnick

Meredith Resnick — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 15:10:18 +0000

I think detention used to be to address more serious or more egregious behaviors. Now it’s used for things like forgetting an instrument, etc when a demerit or the like would probably be more effective in the long run. And speaking of long runs – 18 miles to pick up a child from school…the administration surely realizes that families live this far from campus.

I’d encourage you to send this to your local or state paper – or a parenting mag – in a hurry. Lots of parents can relate. It’s a much bigger issue.

Excellent post.

By: stephanie

stephanie — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 14:39:00 +0000

AMEN! – yes, the fact that this has happened 2x in a short period shows that it has had little effect on the child, but havoc on your weekly fuel budget!!! detention for forgetting an instrument – in a regional school, crazy!!! detention used to be for true “offenses”!