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AIBU?

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School Detention - Fair?

108 replies

WhiteLily1 · 31/01/2024 17:23

My DS age 11 (y7) was in a lesson last week where one pupil was answering the teacher back and two other boys were chatting. The teacher gave the whole class a break time detention for Monday of the following week. DS had not done anything - he said he had been totally silent during the lesson but everyone had the detention.
My DS forgot to go to the detention- it wasn’t on his mind 4 days later, he just totally forgot. He went to apologise to the teacher In question and she gave him a hall lunch time detention for the next day. That involves being escorted to the hall at the start of lunch and sitting on a chair staring at nothing - not allowed to do anything except eat a packed lunch until the end of lunch break.
Unfortunately this was also the day of lunchtime football club which is pretty much all DS looks forward to at school.
For background, DS doesn’t get in trouble at school - his parents evening was good, behaves in class, participates etc. He has had 1 lunch detention before as he forgot his school diary. But that’s it.
I just feel it’s really unfair to give the whole class a collective punishment. Then to double down on that and for DS to miss a whole lunch doing nothing except stare at a wall when the one thing he is passionate about is on. He is really down about it.
AIBU?

OP posts:
LittleGreenDragons · 31/01/2024 17:36

Collective punishment has never been fair, however your son did not go to detention. If your son didn't do a punishment you had set, ie no TV or phone, would you ignore that or would you insist he had to follow your instruction as a parent/in authority?

Panicatthelivingroom · 31/01/2024 17:35

Going against the grain a bit, but yabu. I'm not a teacher but do work in a school and give out detentions, sometimes when the class is being wild it can be overwhelming and almost impossible to tell who has done "wrong" that lesson and who hasn't, so it's either punish them all or let it go. Then your son missed the detention, that's on him and his time keeping. Unfortunate but shit happens, let it go.

MariaVT65 · 31/01/2024 17:33

Fucking hell this sounds bloody awful and is making me dread the day when my kids reach school age. Detention for staying silent in class and also for forgetting your diary? What a load of rubbish. Teachers are focusing on the wrong things. No wonder education is a mess in this country.

itsanotherone · 31/01/2024 17:32

I get why as a parent you feel it was unfair but I'm wondering if the class were laughing and therefore encouraging the behaviour of the other boys, particularly the one answering back. You could contact the teacher to ask what role DS played just to get a clearer picture as to why he was sanctioned.

Forgetting to then do that detention isn't great. Pupils need to take responsibility for managing this and that includes remembering to go (unless he has SEN where he may need additional reminders).

GreyhpundGirl · 31/01/2024 17:30

I'm a secondary school teacher, collective punishments aren't fair and undermine relationships with the well behaved kids. This is pretty standard knowledge.

Makeitmakesensetoday · 31/01/2024 17:26

Agree! I don't get why they do this. It just makes the well behaved kids think well fuck this I might as well be 'naughty'. I'd contact the head and say in future he won't be doing any detentions and the teacher should focus on the trouble makers.

Goawaytina · 31/01/2024 17:25

I don't think the whole class detention was fair, not a detention for forgetting a book fgs. But he missed it and that has a consequence at the end of the day.

Sapphire387 · 31/01/2024 17:25

I agree. I hate collective punishments like this.