school - detention - giving notice

lisa110rry

At seventeen years and three months I was "in detention" for a term for "political and financial" reasons as I would term it. I got early entry to Uni after early exams, but to continue to receive the per capital payment the school kept me on the books and handed me daily detentions. (As I learned later from a friend still at the school.)

[Deleted User]

My then 8 year old had a lot of problems last year with class wide detentions. He actually started to refuse school because it was something he couldn't control.., didn't teach him anything about justice or fairness. The lunch time detentions were happening far too frequently and in the end I had to complain. He has problems writing so in addition to class wide detentions, he'd be kept in if he was slow finishing a piece of work.

Finally, I did write and say that if there were any more lunch time detentions, I needed to be notified and would not consider them acceptable unless they were due to bad behaviour etc etc. This year, they aren't happening at all.

pendragon_arther

dearlouise wrote: »

Are we really now 'discussing' the relevance of the word detention? You suggested that kids couldn't leave. I simply explained, they can! Nothing more to discuss on that front, really.

If the child chooses not to attend detention this problem would be escalated. At my son's school this would entail exclusion from school for a duration dependent on the choice of the teachers thus giving inconvenience to the parents if they both work. If the problem is further escalated this would probably lead to expulsion which would mean the inconvenience and stigma attached to finding another school.

onomatopoeia99

dearlouise wrote: »

Does this still happen? I've not witnessed this in the last 5 years. Possibly in the 80's?

It happened when I was in school, which was the 1980s, it happened to someone I knew's son around 2000. She went to the school and pulled the child out of detention, and when the teacher grabbed said child's arm to restrain them she had to threaten to call the police and report the teacher for common assault before she would release him.

No action was taken by the school against parent or child for the missed detention in that case, perhaps the teacher realised she had got a bit too big for her boots!

meritaten

maman wrote: »

I'd have thought there are lots of jobs where you might have to stay late to complete a task. When my DD worked as a bank cashier for a while they had to stay to balance the money however long it took.


But the point isn't that detention per se prepares them for real life but more that children need to learn that actions have consequences. So in the workplace detention would be replaced by disciplinary action.

yes I have stayed to complete tasks - but not as a 'punishment' for something else entirely. Which is what detention in schools is.
I have never been told to stay behind after work because I had done something wrong. the matter was usually resolved during 'working hours'.
you cannot say you are preparing children for real life if you construct a different 'reality'. yes, actions have consequences - but in the workplace the 'consequences' normally come immediately after the offence - and no workplace uses detention after work to punish you do they?
'consequences' according to all the child care 'experts' should be immediate and in proportion to the 'offence'.
in my experience (and it seems that many on here would agree), detention is often used indiscriminately for even very minor offences or even when the pupil isn't at fault at all!

missingmum

What about if the childs only way to get home is via provided school transport? I have a friend who is having this issue herself at the moment. Both parents work and it means that one of them has to leave work early in order to collect child from school. This is now obviously causing issues with their work.

liney

Secondary Schools around here have their libraries and sports centres well past 5. Daughter should do her homework and wait to be collected after work.


Additionally, if i were the parents, i'd make detention highly undesirable by following up with a punishment at home!

thorsoak

onomatopoeia99 wrote: »

It happened when I was in school, which was the 1980s, it happened to someone I knew's son around 2000. She went to the school and pulled the child out of detention, and when the teacher grabbed said child's arm to restrain them she had to threaten to call the police and report the teacher for common assault before she would release him.

No action was taken by the school against parent or child for the missed detention in that case, perhaps the teacher realised she had got a bit too big for her boots!

...and we wonder why good teachers leave the teaching profession? All that child has learnt is that you can flout rules :-(

jellyhead

My ten year old's had a class detention this year. It wasn't an after-school one, but still unfair in his opinion and has done nothing to help a child with 'issues' make friends.

I've just chosen secondary school for him, and one has lots of after-school detentions, but sends a text to parents. If they don't attend, it's 2 hours the following day. The other tries to avoid after-school detentions because they have a lot of rural students who rely on the school bus. I got a letter when my son was in year 7 telling me that if he didn't do X by X date he'd be given an after-school detention, and could I please call them if it would cause transport problems.

onomatopoeia99

thorsoak wrote: »

...and we wonder why good teachers leave the teaching profession? All that child has learnt is that you can flout rules :-(

I'd hope the teacher involved in that particular instance would be forced from the profession, never mind leaving it.

Punishing a child who was not even in the school when the incident took place is simply unjust and a terrible example to set. The child wasn't flouting any rules, it was at a hospital appointment.