Detentions

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How many is average for year 7?

1.5 is rather long. What do they do in the detention?

DS1 in yr7 has two sorts of detentions: lunchtime ones for hw not being handed in on time, not being completed properly etc - he’s had one of these. I was a bit shocked as he’s never had one before but at his primary they were only given for really bad behaviour.
The other sort is a Friday after school detention which is far more serious and I believe goes on their records. We’ve had none of these.
I imagine each school has a different system. At DS’s primary (a prep) they issued misconducts for minor offences and the equivalent of a lunchtime detention was an organisational misconduct which sounds far less serious and never concerned me as he’s just your average boy - slapdash and all over the place 😁
He’s not liking these detentions though and he’s really pulled his socks up so I guess they’re working 🤔

I guess the issue is that you are reasonably diligent and then forget your homework once. It's no strikes and you're out, so you get a detention.

The following week the teacher comes in and says they've not had time to mark your homework yet...

Do as I say and not as I do!

Personally I think some leeway should be given, anyone can forget something, and you wouldn't generally end up in a disciplinary situation at work for a first minor infraction.

At my school you just got told off for not handing homework in. If you continued not to hand it in, you got a lunchtime detention. Friday afternoon detentions were for really bad things, I can't remember anyone getting one of those though.

Yes Social I agree. I do think they are treating the children with a lack of respect. I think harsh sanctions have their place but they can actually set them back.

I attended a parents' evening the other night with a 5 mins slot to be booked online. We sat and waited for 30 minutes and gave up and went home. Poor time management and organisational skills or a teacher giving too much in some areas to the detriment of others.

It seems this system is actually setting the children up to fail instead of giving them the opportunity to succeed by gentle encouragement and with time naturally developing organisational skills.

It just seems a very negative outlook on a child's potential. How would you like to barked at every time you forgot something or did something minor and then had to stay behind against your will!

*there

DC in Y9, Y11 and Y13, and none of them have ever had a detention. They get lots of warning in their school though, and have to build up "behaviour points" first.

A disciplinary at work is a lot more serious than a detention.
'Telling kids off' may have worked as a good deterrent when you were at school (it did at my school too) but it doesn't cut much ice now. Even detentions don't for many kids. And much as it might be tempting to say "Oh it's all right little Johnny, you don't have to have a detention because you're a lovely little chap who didn't mean to forget your homework, unlike Jack who's been in trouble for three other unrelated things this week", that's not fair. If the punishment for missed homework is a detention, then it's a detention whoever you are.

At a time when teachers' pay and job depend on their students hitting their targets, it's not surprising that teachers are desperate to do anything they can to keep up standards and get kids to do their homework (and to be seen to be doing so).

I also think that those people calling harsh sanctions a lack of respect would find it interesting to spend a week as a fly on the wall in a state secondary school. There is indeed a lot of disrespect . But it's not aimed at the students by the teachers.

Not doing your homework is disruptive. Pain in the arse for the teacher who has to listen to you claim you had done it, it’s just on your desk at home when they could be doing something else, plus a pain in the arse to chase up. And we run detentions unpaid.

Blimey noblegiraffe you sound lovely.

Out of my 3 year 7 classes I have given out detentions to 5 ish students all year so far.

They are mainly for lack of homework.

I can see otherwise good students maybe being kept in at break/a short lunch one but generally in my school most students do not go througy school collecting after school detentions

Staff are human. We accept everyone has off days. Not getting a detention just means students are doing what thry should which isn't a lot to ask.

DS-now-18yo had them almost daily (didn't do homework).
DS-now-yr9 had one for kicking a boy.
DD -now-yr11in the clear.

My DS (yr 7) school dishes them out for everything.

First week, first lesson of PE and all kids who bought in wrong colour socks got detentions. Assembly ran over at end of second school day by 15 minutes! worried yr7 parents rang children to see where they were and those kids got detentions.

My son is one of a few who hasn't had one yet. But give it time as they dish them out for forgetting homework, not having top button done up or forgetting anything.

What's worse is its after school on that day. parents get an email only but i cant access email at work.

I think its all down to what the school's like. His twin's grammar is far more relaxed so no detention there either.

It all depends on the school, doesn't it?

My dd goes to a private girls school and hasn't had a single detention yet, because the school reserves detentions for serious/repeated stuff. If she went to a strict academy type school, she probably would have had a handful of detentions by now for minor misdemeanours like forgetting her book once, forgetting her homework once, etc.

Great so children who don't go to private school get treated like crap. What a lovely country we live in.

Need to show:
Kids who go to private school don’t get detentions for minor stuff
Kids who go to state school do get detentions for minor stuff
Giving detentions = treating kids like crap.

Bit more work to be done on your argument there, tbh.

Please enlighten me noble.

Enlighten you what?

I think Eolian made some valid points at 12.21 and 12.24 about why some comps may need to be stricter than some private schools or grammars. I say that as a mother of dc at a comp so am.not just thinking it's ok for other people's children. Dd has never felt treated like crap though and is happy.

Depends on school, and depends on child.

None of my 3 (2 different schools) ever had any. Different system, and my really well behaved, but chronically disorganised Yr11 has started being given them regularly for 'catch ups' if a homework is late going in or a not high enough score is achieved on a test..... apparently there is a difference between these 'catchups' - as they don't get recorded as bad behaviour points - and 'other detentions', but they still have no choice about staying late at school.

Some schools may have pernickity systems that don't make any allowances in place in Yr 7.
Some dc are more.... ahem.. 'spirited' than others.

Ds had loads in years 7 & 8. Mostly for being too autistic.

He's changed schools now & has had a couple of 10 minute time penalties at lunchtime for disorganisation with homework.

Oh & the detention happy school was private. His new supportive one is state.