To think that the punishment didn't think the crime

[avocadosrus]

Today during lesson my ds13 got punched in the face by another child. This child had been pushing my sons chair repeatedly, my son had asked him not to (chairs were on wheels) and pushed his chair away from him. Child turn round and punched him,caught his cheek and corner of his eye. He's going to have a lovely shiner tomorrow!
School have "investigated" and the child has been excluded for 1 day!
AIBU to think that this isn't really an appropriate punishment?

I always feel like exclusions are more of a punishment for the parents. The kid is probably happy he can now skip school! Lunch detention would at least be boring for him and stop him seeing friends!

That's very true Charm23 i bet the boy in question will have a lovely day in the sun tomorrow!!
Obviously my OP should have said "fit the crime" not think!!!

Erm surely that assault?

Up to you but you could possibly involve the police seeing as the other child is 13.

I'd see what my son said first though, I think.

If your son wanted- you are able to make a report to the police for assault, even if it happened in school hours. The school I worked at had a designated police officer for such reports

I’d involve the police. It drives me crackers acts that are criminal for adults are just hushed up for teenagers. It’s no wonder so many are growing up and stabbing people when they’re committing assaults and being rewarded with a day off school.

What would do you think a more appropriate punishment would be?

I think he should be expelled from school. You can't go around punching people like a hooligan.

This is new territory for me hence the post on here, I don't know what the appropriate punishment should be however I do think 1 day exclusion is a joke. Yes it has crossed my mind to go to the police & actually my son asked me if the boy could go to jail for it, obviously I said that no he couldn't but that we could go to police about it. I'm really not sure how far to take it!

I'd go to the police. I'd also push this as far as possible within the education system.

If this has happened in any properly run workplace, the thug perpetrator would probably quite rightly lose his job, not be rewarded with a day off.

What do posters think a "more suitable" punishment would be?

I've seen the lunchtime detention and they rarely work.

It’s no wonder so many are growing up and stabbing people when they’re committing assaults and being rewarded with a day off school.

You would think that crime is a new thing.

Yeah Boney. 44% increase in knife crime last year. LOL. 🙄

That seems appropriate to me. I witnessed a worse assault and reported it to the school and the boy got 2 days exclusion.

danci

And its all down to schools not punishing pupils properly.

Nothing to do with the rest of societies ills, or the reduction in the police force.

Just schools

Exclusion is one of the most severe things a school can do. He'll have to have a serious reintegration meeting on his return (with parents and SLT, it'll stay on his school record and will mean parental involvement.

Well if I’d said it was ‘all down’ to that you might have a point.

I don’t think it’s ‘all down’ to incidents like this. But I do think schools minimising violent criminal acts sends a message that violence is acceptable and useful for achieving what you want.

My school used to have an internal exclusion unit. It was an old changing block kitted out with desks partitioned floor to ceiling and further back than the chair so pupils in there couldn't talk etc. It was supervised at all times by a senior teacher. They had to do all of their regular work in their, teacher was available if help needed. They didn't get breaks at the same time as everyone else they got an afternoon run and a break to eat lunch in the unit. That to me is much better than external exclusion. They don't miss out on work, they do miss out on the social side of school, not allowed to do extra curricular clubs while in there, and it didn't cause a headache for working parents. Also no TVs XBoxes etc. The school still have the unit now. It's a comp but a good one. I knew of students being sent there for anything between a day or two and a fortnight. We had another teacher who would issue morning runs (laps of the school grounds) he would issue for more minor infringements. He had an office with dual aspect Windows on the second floor and would watch them (and everyone flooding into school) like a hawk. The unit is still at the school, that particular teacher has probably retired by now.

@danci

So what do you think schools should do?

Report it to the police. Your son needs to know it was very wrong and there are consequences for people assaulting him. The school are taking the piss!

I would echo what other posters have said - an exclusion is pretty high on the escalation of punishment. It isn’t just ‘have a day off and then come back’ - there are meetings, plans in place to prevent it happening again and it’s reported to the LA.

Those comparing it to an adult situation - schools exist to educate and care for young people. It is nothing like an employee-employer relationships. Surely all parents are thankful that, as a general rule, schools do not just abandon a young person or write them off as a criminal.

What the child did is wrong and your son deserves to know how he will be protected. But calling for a 13 year old to be prosecuted is a very unlikeable side of mumsnet

Loving the idea that modern schools minimise violence compared to the past. Like in the 80s - when it was legal for teachers to literally beat children - them were the days.

Exclusion is the highest sanction a School has except perm ex- which obviously wont happen. Maybe one day exclusion followed by a few days internal exclusion or similar? What would you want to happen?