Is it acceptable for a child to be given a detention for being too early to lessons?

[Carsgoingby]

Interested in other peoples thoughts on this - twelve year old turning up ten minutes early every time the lesson is after break / lunch. Teacher has repeatedly asked them not to.

Because OP buggered off.

It's not turning up to a lesson early, it's ignoring school rules and sitting in a classroom when all other students are not allowed.

Its defiance and refusal to follow instructions too.

But context is everything- I would want to know why this student was doing it before I decided how to deal with it.

More context is needed. We are constantly chasing students from the corridors because they're not supervised at break times and teachers are trying to have their break or get stuff done in that time and should not be wasting time chasing students away. OP has not said that her child is loitering outside classrooms alone; there may be a group of them thinking that the rules don't apply.

I also have two students who find breaks difficult and so I allow them to sit in my classroom together and chat. The key is that i trust them, they behave impeccably and they have my permission to be there.

Without more context, it's impossible to say.

No child willingly misses their break time. It's really mean to pull them up on it. I wouldn’t mind if they came in and read.

I got that sense from the OP, but I guess I could be wrong. Don't get your knickers in a knot unnecessarily!

Unless the teacher is being unreasonable which does happen (ex-teacher myself, most of my colleagues were great, some were twats).

Some children willingly fuck around on corridors under the pretence of "being early for lessons". Despite multiple warnings they still appear every day, meaning a member of staff has to go out during lunch and deal with them. They do get detentions.

And yet every other week there are people venting that colleagues disrupt their lunch break by turning up at their desk to chat, uninvited... The answer is not to demand that they have their lunch elsewhere to avoid the intrusion.

There are designated social areas in almost all schools for a reason and the corridors are not usually included. I wonder if a detention is a step too far but once I've ruled out any issues with bullying, I would always encourage early birds to enjoy the remaining breaktime in a social area rather than the corridor outside my classroom.

I wish the OP would come back and give more context.

At my school break time is 20 mins long and students are not allowed in the building till the bell goes. The child is not really turning up early to punctual, there is an underlying reason for it. If they are there to avoid bullies or because they are socialy isolated then they would need support to identify a safe place to go. We have arrangements like this in place at our school. If however they were just rocking up to mess about or for somewhere warm to eat their food and drop their litter when everyone else is outside ot in the canteen being supervised then they would need a sanction for that. So it really depends.

To be honest your question 'Is it acceptable for a child to be given a detention for being too early for lessons' sounds just like the many parents I deal with who ring me up outraged that their precious child has been sanctioned for 'asking for a pencil' when in actual fact their child shouted out over the top of my teaching, then the proceeded to get up and wander around the room laughing, talking, totally disrupting the lesson. When asked to be quiet and sit down they then delcare that I should calm down. Then they've gone home and told parents that I'm picking on them because all they did was ask for a pencil.

I can assure you that secondary aged students love to do the opposite of what they're meant to. If you tell them to go out, they want to be in. If you tell them to stay in, they want to go out.

Detention? No.

asking why, absolutely.

Giving detention for being early is a load of bull. I was bullied in school, so I used to hide in the toilets to kill time before my lesson to avoid people. I was made fun of by nearly everyone in my year (bar 2 of my friends), so it was impossible for the teachers to crack down on it, even so, I felt awful and stressed all the time and developed an eating disorder as a result. Maybe the bullies are in the toilets? Maybe being near a teacher is the only safe place for this kid? Anyone ever considered that?

No that’s a ridiculous response! Challenge it

Why is it ridiculous?

If students have been repeatedly told not to come early, they need to not be early. It's unfair on teaching staff tk have to supervise students during their lunch break.

Find out the full facts before you say anything OP.

RE bullying, I hope most teachers would use their professional judgement and have a conversation with the students.

I work in a school- I'm not a teacher but work as part of student services. I'd agree with those saying that the detention is likely not for being early as such but for being in an out of bounds area or repeatedly failing to follow instruction and would say that's absolutely reasonable.

Where I work we have staff that lead wellbeing and/ or safeguarding and I would hope that the matter has been passed onto a member of staff with a similar role in your DCs school to check in with you DC to make sure that any root cause is dealt with such as bullying, lacking friendships ect.

Students being in an unsupervised area/ unknown location during the school day is a safeguarding risk!

No way. There are plenty of reasons why a child might turn up early for lessons. The reason I suspect the most is that they are being bullied or are not happy/do not fit in with their peers and want an escape. I don't know about you but making this child sit alone in the toilet for this 10 minutes seems the only alternative option.

Yes, the child is not following instructions. But this situation is probably bigger than that. They need support, not punishment.

I can assure you that secondary aged students love to do the opposite of what they're meant to. If you tell them to go out, they want to be in. If you tell them to stay in, they want to go out

I work in a secondary school and I see the vulnerable children hanging around adults and looking for a safe space.

I work in the first aid room and deal with all the sickness/ injuries/ prescription medications throughout the school day as well as a whole host of other health related bits.

You absolutely wouldn't believe the amount of students that would happily miss out on break or lunch just to mill about in the first aid room. I spend way too much of my day kicking out kids who wanted to say hi to make way for genuinely unwell kids.

Yes I assume the corridors and classrooms are out of bounds at break and the child keeps being found in there.

If this was a one off then it would be unfair.

If this is your child then you need to get to the bottom of why they’re in the corridoor instead of outside playing.
Do they not have any friends?
If not could you encourage joining a lunchtime club?

SingingInParadise
T h the teacher being grumpy about a student arriving 10mins early feels like a huge fuss out of nothing.

A third of your lunch break is hardly nothing.

ArcticRoll2
That is ridiculous. If it bothers the teacher so much why doesn’t HE/HER go elsewhere?

Where should they go? not all schools have 'offices' where teachers can go or even a staffroom.

Some of them do, and the adults know who they are.

Many of them just want to wander about with groups of their mates shouting "Suiiiiii" down the stairwells.

If the child is repeatedly doing this then the detention is because they're in a part of the building where they're not allowed to be at that particular time without supervision.
If detention was giving for arriving early the first time then I'd say it's ott but after being told multiple times then detention is the right way to go although I'd want to get to the bottom of why said child doesn't want to spend time with friends instead.

OP still hasn't confirmed whether their child is loitering alone because they have no friends. Lots are assuming this based on nothing.

I'm clearly the lone voice here but I don't see a problem with turning up 10 minutes early. The child can just queue quietly outside the classroom, the teacher doesn't need to let them in or supervise them.
As pretty much everyone has said, the child is obviously trying to get away from something/someone. Perhaps bullying, perhaps lack of friends, perhaps just prefers to be indoors instead of outdoors.
Ten minutes early definitely doesn't warrant a detention. And if the child has repeatedly ignored instructions, well I consider that the teachers fault - not making the instructions clear enough or not seeking to understand why they are not/cannot do what's asked.