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AIBU?

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Original poster

Afterschool Detention Wrongly given?

132 replies

cazbate · 05/03/2015 17:55

yesterday my son was supposed to give in a homework that had to be done on a computer. my printer has no ink and the library was closed and others were broke.hes doing his GCSEs had he didn't have time to run about trying to print it of. he did not have the teacher that day and he had to give it in in his own time. he went in the morning and she wasn't there. at the end of the day she sent a student to collect them. someone gave it in and he told the teacher his just needed to be printed. he was off on the day it was given so he had to Wednesday as it was supposed to b for Tuesday. if it wasn't in for Tuesday it was a lunch time detention. not in for the nextr day it was an afterschool. he even reminded her twice that his was for Wednesday. in the letter she sent it said the deadline was Tuesday. the others didn't give it on Tuesday so they wud get an after school but Wednesday was my deadline. today he got told I have an afterschool detention. but he had it. the teacher said where was his and showed her the USB stick and said he just needed to print it off. she wrote that down and the student left. why is he getting an afterschool detention. he could not get it printed of. what was he supposed to do. he does have other much more important subjects to deal with (the homework was for journalism and he missed a bit of maths and biology to deal with this.)

OP posts:
PtolemysNeedle · 05/03/2015 18:01

He's doing his GCSEs, stop babying him. Sometimes there are consequences when you don't do things you are supposed to do, even if it wasn't your fault.

What are you on about with 'he had to give it in on his own time'? It's his homework, not something he's doing as a favour to the teacher!

I would have expected my ds to have emailed his teacher with the homework or at least with an explanation before the deadline, and I wouldn't have tolerated any excuses about not having time or other work being missed.

CrohnicallyInflexible · 05/03/2015 18:05

Why couldn't he print it off at school? I remember when I was at college/uni it was made very clear that computer difficulties of any sort were no excuse for missing a deadline. Why leave it till the last minute to try and print it? Let it be a lesson learned- next time get it done in plenty of time so he could have gone to the library or got a friend to print it off.

WaxOnWaxOff · 05/03/2015 18:05

I can't make head nor tail of your post tbh, but from the gist of it, a teenager got a detention for not handing in homework on time.

YABU.

CrohnicallyInflexible · 05/03/2015 18:07

Oh- and the only reason that computer difficulties weren't an issue at GCSE was because homework was assumed to be handwritten back then- the days before virtually every student had computer access.

Mabelface · 05/03/2015 18:09

He had plenty of time to get it done and find a way to get it printed. Sounds like he left till the last minute and he's now got to accept the consequences of that.

ChipDip · 05/03/2015 18:10

Paragraphs!
Yabu, last minute homework and missing a deadline is detention. Not sure what's the issue with that.

SurlyCue · 05/03/2015 18:10

He should have taken 5 minutes before clas on wednesday and gone to the school library to print it.

Annabannbobanna · 05/03/2015 18:11

I don't think the detention was wrongly given. He missed the deadline, he should have done the homework in a more timely manner.

Koalafications · 05/03/2015 18:13

Your post is really confusing Confused

Is the general point that he couldn't print his homework and gve it in on time, therefore, he got a detention?

If yes, YABU.

TwoOddSocks · 05/03/2015 18:16

It's annoying for him but certainly not worth kicking up a fuss over. The printing difficulties don't count as an excuse as that's just an unfortunate consequence of leaving it to the last minute.

From your post I gather though he should only have a lunch time rather than an after school since it was technically one day late for him as he was away Wednesday, but even then since he was away on the due date he should have been especially careful to have it in the following day so I think he should just do the detention.

AuntieStella · 05/03/2015 18:16

When was the homework set?

minionmadness · 05/03/2015 18:17

YABU If you always allow him to make excuses he will develop a "It's always something/someone else's fault not mine" attitude.

Do you think in the workplace it will be ok to miss deadlines?

He is old enough to manage himself now so should have either e-mailed it to the teacher or printed it off at school.

keepsmiling2015 · 05/03/2015 18:18

Yabu

MaidOfStars · 05/03/2015 18:19

As far as I can tell:

  1. Your son had a slightly extended deadline (one day) because he was absent when the assignment was given. His deadline was Wednesday, the others students had a Tuesday deadline.
  1. Tuesday students missing the Tuesday deadline would get a lunchtime detention. Tuesday students missing a Wednesday late deadline would get an after school detention. Move everything forward one day for the Wednesday student, your son.
  1. On Wednesday, your son's deadline, he wouldn't normally have the teacher for classes so he needed to get his homework to her at some point. He had been unable to print it off so told the teacher (via a messenger) that he wasn't able to hand it in, but it was on a USB stick. He would now be on a lunchtime detention.
  1. On Thursday, a day after your son's deadline, now attracting an after school detention as a penalty, he still hadn't printed it off to submit. Therefore he was given an after school detention.

All this stuff about days and extended deadlines is irrelevant. Could he have not asked the teacher to print it off on Wednesday? Could he have not found a friend with a printer on Tuesday or Wednesday night?

Original poster
cazbate · 05/03/2015 18:25

the general pint his he had two days to complete 7 different analysis of a movie in 2 days. he was expected to print it even though he attempted to do print this homework on the Tuesday and the Wednesday. I don't know how he is leaving it to the last minute if he only had 2 days to print it. he missed no deadline either. he had the homework fully completed. I don't think the detention is deserved because he had no way of getting it printed and I was on time

OP posts:
Vycount · 05/03/2015 18:26

In my experience he would have had plenty of time once he was in school to speak to a teacher and get the work printed off.
As someone said above, stop babying him. He has to start to stand on his own two feet now.
I hope you haven't expressed these views about unfairness to him, it isn't helpful to the school. In most cases you need to support them.

SurlyCue · 05/03/2015 18:29

Why did he not print it in the scho library on the wednesday morning?

MaidOfStars · 05/03/2015 18:29

he missed no deadline either. he had the homework fully completed

He didn't. Part of the homework was to print a copy to submit. He didn't complete this.

noblegiraffe · 05/03/2015 18:36

Why didn't he email a copy to the teacher explaining the printing issue and asking whether the electronic copy was ok until he could print it?

Why are you enabling his helplessness?

Original poster
cazbate · 05/03/2015 18:36

maidofstars:

  1. yes that's right.
2.yes correct
  1. yes also correct
  2. he did have it printed of on the Thursday but before he could give it her. she again sent a student to tell him he had and afterschool detention.

he didn't ask a friend because he was told that the colour printer in one of the rooms will have new ink for Wednesday and it will be ready for the morning. he did not know that what he was told was wrong. he would have went at lunch to the library to see if it opened but he had controlled assessments and didn't have the time. the majority of his friends don't even own a printer.

OP posts:
Koalafications · 05/03/2015 18:41

Is it acceptable to use these excuses at work?

I would be really annoyed if an employee told me that they had done the work but even though they didn't submit it they hadn't missed the deadline.

It's a really bizarre thought process.

ilovesooty · 05/03/2015 18:41

He had controlled assessments at lunchtime?

Hakluyt · 05/03/2015 18:42

He had loads of time to print it off at school- before school, break time, lunch time.....or if all else failed, to email it to the teacher. He is being a barrack room lawyer- don't encourage it.

MaidOfStars · 05/03/2015 18:42

Why didn't he email a copy to the teacher explaining the printing issue and asking whether the electronic copy was ok until he could print it?

I teach at university and while not ideal, I would completely accept this alternative as a one-off due to unexpected printing problems.

Original poster
cazbate · 05/03/2015 18:42

attachments aren't working in the school at the minute and he can't send it like that. His helplessness! he hasn't done anything he cannot print something when no printers are available to print. he doesn't deserve this detention. No deadline was missed as he says on Tuesday many others had USBs to give in and the teacher allowed them to print it off. he had also been to see the teacher Wednesday morning and she wasn't there. he went to see her Tuesday afterschool, she was not there.

OP posts: