Detentions as a punishment

[SweatyLama]

I didn't grow up in the UK, but my children were born here. This year, my DS started secondary school for the first time, and I discovered that they have a system of punishments in place. Is this a common practice in all state schools in Britain? I really don't like this system ( I mean punishments) and find it degrading and outdated.

"If you don't agree with sanctions for poor behaviour then how would you deal with discipline in a secondary school, which may have a mixed catchment of up to 1500-2000 pupils in it?"
when you write this, i realize that the only reason kids go to school and do homework is to avoid getting a sanction. that's very sad.

How many times a year is 'a few' roughly?

I am not in the UK but understand that discipline is necessary to be quite honest you sound like some of the art teachers I had no discipline which made class a disaster.

That's ridiculous. Why are you assuming all kids have the same attitude to school? Some kids actively like school. Some don't love it, but know that it's important. Some hate it and wouldn't go if they could get away with it. I imagine that has always been the case, in pretty much all schools in pretty much all countries.

Not. But I don't think it is the best way.

Of you are a primary teacher you should know reasons why children broke the rules. And help them don't do it. It's easy 😌

Hey @SweatyLama I’ve been following this thread slightly open-mouthed and am now moved to comment.

You seem to have some very curious ideas. And I gather you are not a secondary school teacher and tbh don’t seem to have been in many or any secondary school classrooms. But you hope “everything is fine there”. OK. I mean it’s not, at all, but that’s another thread.

I am still not clear how you would deal with the student described by a PP who is as tall as a fully grown man, swearing and throwing the furniture. Do they not deserve any kind of sanction?

It’s certainly not the case that the only reason students go to school is to avoid getting a sanction. The vast majority attend school more or less willingly, aware that it is important for their future and that working hard will get them somewhere.

Some DC have various barriers to their learning which teachers and other staff will try to work through. Sometimes this means there is a sanction. Often this is to support the rest of the class in being able to learn. I see that as a positive thing.

Most students in a big secondary school are not walking around in fear of sanctions. In fact I would venture to say that a decent majority rarely or never get any kind of sanction. No teacher wants to issue detentions. What they want is to be able to teach their lesson and support the students with their learning, in the best way they can. If this means a warning of consequences if poor behaviour continues, then that’s fine by me and I would support the school if my DC were misbehaving.

If your DS does what he should do then it is more than possible for him never to have any detentions, and more importantly, to progress through his school career with success and do the best he can.

Now I'm thinking you're just trying to wind people up.

No sensible teacher would be late if they could possibly avoid it. Being late is very stressful!

The school can't give pupil detention during lunch, it's a violation of his right to eating ))) . I can assume that he is embarrassed to tell you the truth, that he just likes your classes. Is he punctual with other teachers too?

Of course they can. They either give them a bit of time at the end to grab lunch or say buy food at break and eat it in detention or similar.

Putting a student in isolation is so consistent with the purpose of the school - to impart knowledge. Nonsense.

a paradise for those who don't like to eat in a crowd

The same for students. And for me, when i was a child, and now.

I want to say one thing. I go to language courses, and if I was given sanctions for wearing the wrong clothes, for being late or not doing my homework, I would not want to continue studying there.
but you say it's good for children. it's ridiculous

So do tell us your wonderful solutions op

So you don't think there should be any kind of sanction to a student who comes in late to class? This has to be a wind-up. Do you have any idea how disruptive it is when students come in late? I think the answer must be no.

Actually students turn up on time bc they want to learn; but teachers need to have some kind of sanction for the few who are late. Why are you so against this? It's not an issue if a student follows the rules. I assume you are in favour of there being rules @SweatyLama ?

But your son does. You said yourself that motivated children follow rules without the threat of punishment, however even with the risk of punishment he is struggling. He is different to you and in your home town he might have been at risk of dropping out.

He will find it harder if he is getting mixed messages from you. I have taken the approach that what happens at school is their domain and we need to respect their rules while they are there.

Em that isn't how it works the little buggers have free will. Honestly op I want to watch you in a classroom of todays kids.

Ummm

Lunch time detentions are definitely a thing...

So what did your school do with disruptive, aggressive and abusive pupils? Ignore them? Let them roam free?

Kids do get fed if on lunchtime detention op, they're not starved

And how exactly do you do that?
How do help an angry, abused child from a violent home not being angry, aggressive and disengaged?

I see you still don't have any actual answers to questions like what you would actually do when presented with complex/aggressive situations...

Op has no solutions, just criticisms and ridiculous comments

SweatyLama

I had a pupil that would do a ten minute performance on entry to the my lesson.
This would be after he and his mates had been turfed out of the toilets for vaping.
So the lesson could was disrupted by at least 10 minutes every time he entered the lesson. What would your suggestion be to stop him from doing this and disrupting the learning of others?
This also doesn't take into account the other times that he would disrupt the lesson.