..for all the boys in school to miss play...

[correllia]

We have a new head at my son's school. It's a small school of 70 odd children. Last week one child threw a tennis ball down the loo in the boy's toilets.

As the culprit failed to own up all the boys had to remain in the hall when they had eaten their lunch & sit in silence for the duration of play, or until the perpetrator owned up. This finally happened 5 mins before the end of play.

The children therefore had to sit in silence for approx 45 minutes. They are aged between 5-10.

Am I being unreasonable to feel my son has been punished somewhat severely considering the crime (he didn't throw the ball btw!) ?

Opinions please....

YANBU

I hate lazy, blanket punishments.

What's the point in being good if you're going to get punished anyway?

I've always thought the same as Worra, but there was a thread here before when a teacher explained why they do it and it did make sense, but I can't remember what it was

YANBU, something similar happened to me (older) son once as well. I did question it and I don't really like it, but it worked, the guilty party did own up and I don't think it does children any harm. 5 is too young to really understand it though, so I can't agree that it's right to do it to ks1 children.

Yes, I do have splinters in my arse.

Nothing more likely to make you own up than having to do it in front of 30 odd disgruntled peers

The other side of it is that your peers know you did it & think you're a twat for either doing it or not owning up - so you don't do it again.

Probably a more effective deterrent than whatever punishment the teacher could dish out...

I hate blanket punishment. I feel it's decisive and unfair.

Last time they used it atDSs school was for something that happened on a day when he wasn't there and the teacher said not including him in it would be unfair in the other innocent children!!

I went to boarding school and I was a couple of days late back from half-term as I broke my foot. When I got back, my entire boarding house was grounded because someone had stolen some birthday cake left for our housemistress after someone had a party. No-one would own up because it was blatantly her bloody dog, the giveaway being that the plate was left behind with a smear of chocolate on it so everyone got grounded for about a week.

Including me. The injustice of it! I was 85 miles away when it happened!

Still pissed off about it 27 years later.

YANBU. A good deterrent because nobody wants to be the one who cost everyone their play. Not "fair" in an adult sense, perhaps, but that sort of thing is part of childhood.

It's lazy and unfair. Children need their playtimes. I recall several of us going ballistic about this sort of thing at dc's school. The crunch came when they kept children in after school with no notice, and nowhere for mums with younger children to shelter from the bitter weather. We challenged the legality of it, and the school backed down quite quickly, changing their rules.

It's an important lesson. People can be unfair asshats to those over whom they have control

Nah, there's more than one way of skinning a cat. When something like this happens, 9 times out of 10 a teacher knows who did it anyway.

Almost always but giving the perpetrator the opportunity to confess and also teaching them the consequences of not confessing is a very important lesson for all the kids too.

Chances are this will probably be the only time all the boys will be punished like this this year because they will all know the consequences of that sort of behaviour and will be more likely to confess.

I remember it happening at my school. Only ever happened every year or two. Usually a new person would do something really daft. It did the job and its a far better punishment that to leave it or accuse the wrong person. Everyone knew where they stood.

Head teacher is a fuckwit controll freak!!

I have a child with autism and this kind of injustice would used to make her so anxious that she would be unable to attend school. A whole day or more for some one elses punishment!!

One of the many reasons I dont send her to school anymore!!

YANBU

Blanket punishments are lazy imo.

Ds had a year of collective punishment because the teacher couldn't control the couple of naughty kids.

It makes for a really, really unpleasant environment- lots of resentment.

I can't stand the "punish all for ones persons behaviour" we got that a lot at school and just caused resentment and even on one occasion the person who did do he deed but did not own up. (Set the fire alarm off by smoking in the toilets) being badly beaten by a group of lads who took matters into their own hands.

Pretty horrified by that actually. My 6 yr old would likely be in tears before 5 minutes were up never mind 45 if he was innocent. And would be far too scared by the public setting to own up if he had done something.

I rather liked the solution in a book where one of the good children "owned up" then when everyone else had left admitted she hadn't actually done it. Any politically minded Y6's want to organise an owning-up rota?

9 times out of 10 a teacher knows who did it anyway.

But then they'll go running to Mum, who'll come in & complain that little Timmy was innocent.

Much easier, and more fun, to go down the Lord of the Flies route & let the little angels police themselves.....

In year 9 my whole form was banned from science practicals because someone stole a timer. Seriousky

Thank you all, I love the idea that it could have been a vindictive girl ?? but seriously, glad I'm not alone in feeling there could have been a better way ??

When I was at primary school the whole school was kept inside for several weeks during play time, 30+ years later I still have no idea why.

At secondary school my whole year was kept in as some one threw a snowball through a window. I was off ill at the time and was hauled in from break to join the year group. It prompted my first ever sit in, and they had to get my parents in to remove me from the hall at the end of break.

OK so those saying it's lazy, how the fuck would you deal with it?

As a teacher, it is sometimes the only option. If something happens and you don't know who has done it, you have to get someone to own up or someone to grass up. Short of getting every kid to write a statement (takes a lot longer than 40 mins) explain to me God like creatures what you would do.