Do detentions really work? (after school)
I got one almost every week in year 8 (from the same teacher always an hour on friday (behavioural)) and I don't feel like I changed at all. I don't go to school anymore but I was just thinking about this last night and wondering if anyone else thinks these things work?
I should mention I wasn't that naughty after school detentions were just my schools go to punishment.
I should mention I wasn't that naughty after school detentions were just my schools go to punishment.
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Original post by jonathanemptage
I got one almost every week in year 8 (from the same teacher always an hour on friday (behavioural)) and I don't feel like I changed at all. I don't go to school anymore but I was just thinking about this last night and wondering if anyone else thinks these things work?
I should mention I wasn't that naughty after school detentions were just my schools go to punishment.
I should mention I wasn't that naughty after school detentions were just my schools go to punishment.
Punishments have been shown time and time again to not be the most effective way of changing an undesirable behaviour.
This is only speculative, but I would assume that punishment or threat of punishment only changes behaviour when a person is terrified of the punishment OR it gives them the opportunity to reflect on their behaviour and conclude that either (a) 'the crime ain't worth the time' (b) they feel remorseful.
Punishing you every week removed any shock factor OR fear of the punishment. At school I observed that when being given detention for the first time most children would cry, however the more times that they had been given detention, the less likely they where to cry.
That teacher sounds unskilled and a bit of bully.
If you felt that the teacher was targeting you, you would hardly come to the conclusion, upon reflection that you felt bad about your behavior
(edited 3 years ago)
I think they're pretty stupid and something positive rarely comes out of them, but boredom is a good punishment
by far the most people who end up in detention are 'repeat offenders' and don't change until they're kicked out or go elsewhere tbh
Original post by jonathanemptage
I got one almost every week in year 8 (from the same teacher always an hour on friday (behavioural)) and I don't feel like I changed at all. I don't go to school anymore but I was just thinking about this last night and wondering if anyone else thinks these things work?
I should mention I wasn't that naughty after school detentions were just my schools go to punishment.
I should mention I wasn't that naughty after school detentions were just my schools go to punishment.
Evening
Of course they work but only with those that respect and recognise the fact that they, or the class got
detention for a reason
IMHO, if you are a clown and think you know it all, detentions will never work. What would work 99% of the time is a good spanking. A friend of the family was educated in India and she told me that if children were out of order, a msak around the back of the head, or a slap, or have the board duster thrown at you and then being lambasted by teach defo did the trick with 99% of the naughty lot.
It is so sad that so many see detention as a joke as the jokers that repeatedly get this harm others education.
NB> the above are my observations and not aimed at the OP or the like minded here but an open and honest post
I apologise beforehand if I've brushed anyones feelings.
Original post by jonathanemptage
I got one almost every week in year 8 (from the same teacher always an hour on friday (behavioural)) and I don't feel like I changed at all. I don't go to school anymore but I was just thinking about this last night and wondering if anyone else thinks these things work?
I should mention I wasn't that naughty after school detentions were just my schools go to punishment.
I should mention I wasn't that naughty after school detentions were just my schools go to punishment.
Evening
Of course they work but only with those that respect and recognise the fact that they, or the class got
detention for a reason
IMHO, if you are a clown and think you know it all, detentions will never work. What would work 99% of the time is a good spanking. A friend of the family was educated in India and she told me that if children were out of order, a msak around the back of the head, or a slap, or have the board duster thrown at you and then being lambasted by teach defo did the trick with 99% of the naughty lot.
It is so sad that so many see detention as a joke as the jokers that repeatedly get this harm others education.
NB the above are my observations and not aimed at the OP or the like minded here but an open and honest post
I apologise beforehand if I've brushed anyones feelings.
I can see a few valuable things about after school detentions:
- Combatting refusal to do work. The thought process being "I might as well spend 20 minutes on my homework now rather than end up in an hour long after school detention tomorrow where I'll have to do that same homework task anyway". Obviously it doesn't work everytime, but I have seen many occasions where a warning of "If you miss one more homework, then you'll be completing it in detention" has caused a homework to come in on time that otherwise wouldn't have.
- Demonstrating to other people in the classroom that certain behaviours won't be put up with. Once again, even if it doesn't necessarily stop the student being punished, if other students see one kid getting away with murder, they might be more inclined to join in with that negative behaviour, because they don't have any consequences to fear. Though to be honest, I think in situations like this, removing that student from the classroom altogether is the best solution, if it's got to a point where their behaviour is seriously affecting others' learning.
- Opportunity for a teacher to have a private word with a student. Even if you step outside to have a word with a student about their behaviour, their friends in the classroom are very aware of what's happening, which might encourage that student to put on a bit of a front. In a detention setting, where there's nobody to 'perform' to, some students behave very differently.
- Opportunity to catch up on work that was missed due to poor behaviour. If a student was messing around all lesson and only completed 1/4 of the required work, having them in for detention to complete the rest of the work ensures that they don't fall behind.
Now, I don't agree with just bringing the same kid into detention repeatedly. I think after the third detention, higher ups should be getting involved and other interventions should be put in place to deal with that poor behaviour. I'm also not a fan of hour long after school detentions, I think short detentions at lunch / after school are just as effective for the above mentioned reasons.
- Combatting refusal to do work. The thought process being "I might as well spend 20 minutes on my homework now rather than end up in an hour long after school detention tomorrow where I'll have to do that same homework task anyway". Obviously it doesn't work everytime, but I have seen many occasions where a warning of "If you miss one more homework, then you'll be completing it in detention" has caused a homework to come in on time that otherwise wouldn't have.
- Demonstrating to other people in the classroom that certain behaviours won't be put up with. Once again, even if it doesn't necessarily stop the student being punished, if other students see one kid getting away with murder, they might be more inclined to join in with that negative behaviour, because they don't have any consequences to fear. Though to be honest, I think in situations like this, removing that student from the classroom altogether is the best solution, if it's got to a point where their behaviour is seriously affecting others' learning.
- Opportunity for a teacher to have a private word with a student. Even if you step outside to have a word with a student about their behaviour, their friends in the classroom are very aware of what's happening, which might encourage that student to put on a bit of a front. In a detention setting, where there's nobody to 'perform' to, some students behave very differently.
- Opportunity to catch up on work that was missed due to poor behaviour. If a student was messing around all lesson and only completed 1/4 of the required work, having them in for detention to complete the rest of the work ensures that they don't fall behind.
Now, I don't agree with just bringing the same kid into detention repeatedly. I think after the third detention, higher ups should be getting involved and other interventions should be put in place to deal with that poor behaviour. I'm also not a fan of hour long after school detentions, I think short detentions at lunch / after school are just as effective for the above mentioned reasons.
Not if the student is too rebellious.
Original post by bluebeetle
I can see a few valuable things about after school detentions:
- Combatting refusal to do work. The thought process being "I might as well spend 20 minutes on my homework now rather than end up in an hour long after school detention tomorrow where I'll have to do that same homework task anyway". Obviously it doesn't work everytime, but I have seen many occasions where a warning of "If you miss one more homework, then you'll be completing it in detention" has caused a homework to come in on time that otherwise wouldn't have.
- Demonstrating to other people in the classroom that certain behaviours won't be put up with. Once again, even if it doesn't necessarily stop the student being punished, if other students see one kid getting away with murder, they might be more inclined to join in with that negative behaviour, because they don't have any consequences to fear. Though to be honest, I think in situations like this, removing that student from the classroom altogether is the best solution, if it's got to a point where their behaviour is seriously affecting others' learning.
- Opportunity for a teacher to have a private word with a student. Even if you step outside to have a word with a student about their behaviour, their friends in the classroom are very aware of what's happening, which might encourage that student to put on a bit of a front. In a detention setting, where there's nobody to 'perform' to, some students behave very differently.
- Opportunity to catch up on work that was missed due to poor behaviour. If a student was messing around all lesson and only completed 1/4 of the required work, having them in for detention to complete the rest of the work ensures that they don't fall behind.
Now, I don't agree with just bringing the same kid into detention repeatedly. I think after the third detention, higher ups should be getting involved and other interventions should be put in place to deal with that poor behaviour. I'm also not a fan of hour long after school detentions, I think short detentions at lunch / after school are just as effective for the above mentioned reasons.
- Combatting refusal to do work. The thought process being "I might as well spend 20 minutes on my homework now rather than end up in an hour long after school detention tomorrow where I'll have to do that same homework task anyway". Obviously it doesn't work everytime, but I have seen many occasions where a warning of "If you miss one more homework, then you'll be completing it in detention" has caused a homework to come in on time that otherwise wouldn't have.
- Demonstrating to other people in the classroom that certain behaviours won't be put up with. Once again, even if it doesn't necessarily stop the student being punished, if other students see one kid getting away with murder, they might be more inclined to join in with that negative behaviour, because they don't have any consequences to fear. Though to be honest, I think in situations like this, removing that student from the classroom altogether is the best solution, if it's got to a point where their behaviour is seriously affecting others' learning.
- Opportunity for a teacher to have a private word with a student. Even if you step outside to have a word with a student about their behaviour, their friends in the classroom are very aware of what's happening, which might encourage that student to put on a bit of a front. In a detention setting, where there's nobody to 'perform' to, some students behave very differently.
- Opportunity to catch up on work that was missed due to poor behaviour. If a student was messing around all lesson and only completed 1/4 of the required work, having them in for detention to complete the rest of the work ensures that they don't fall behind.
Now, I don't agree with just bringing the same kid into detention repeatedly. I think after the third detention, higher ups should be getting involved and other interventions should be put in place to deal with that poor behaviour. I'm also not a fan of hour long after school detentions, I think short detentions at lunch / after school are just as effective for the above mentioned reasons.
See what you've mentioned would get a 1/2 hour what they called an academic detention again after school but the teachers never engaged with us in detention it's just go there and complete the work you missed I had usually done it and just forgot to bring it in when I got those.
Original post by jonathanemptage
See what you've mentioned would get a 1/2 hour what they called an academic detention again after school but the teachers never engaged with us in detention it's just go there and complete the work you missed I had usually done it and just forgot to bring it in when I got those.
Yeah, I do think that behaviour sanctions are more effective if the teacher who handed out the sanction is involved in the process. However, I understand why this doesn't always happen - lots of teachers are very overworked and so if they had to run their own detentions, they'd set far fewer detentions. It's good in a way, because it prevents detentions being handed out frivolously, but also bad because sometimes detentions don't get given when they should be. I know I've had occasions where I really, really should have given a detention, but I had parents evening that night and I knew that detention would stop me from going home and grabbing something to eat before my first meeting!
A balance between teacher-led and SLT-led detentions is probably the solution! But for missing work and for 'first time offenders', I really think it's best for that detention to be with the teacher who set it, even if that means it has to be a shorter detention.
rofl no 
as others have pointed out it's usually the same students in detention and as evidenced by the OP clearly detention doesn't work. well to my memory i've only had detention once, but pretty sure they put all the kids with detention in the same room, so they just chat with each other if they can get away with it. consequently, they form their own friendship group or little community; tbh it's exactly what happens in prison and why in part prison isn't a deterrent either. anyway i guess there is no deterrence because the student receives some benefit that makes the detention worth it (attention? feeling of power? or just doing something that the risk was worth taking in my case
).
realistically tho what's the alternative (?); probably not manual labour or a slap on the wrist. can't allow the behaviour to continue or go unpunished either so idk. i'm just glad i'm not a teacher; imagine it's a hard job.
as others have pointed out it's usually the same students in detention and as evidenced by the OP clearly detention doesn't work. well to my memory i've only had detention once, but pretty sure they put all the kids with detention in the same room, so they just chat with each other if they can get away with it. consequently, they form their own friendship group or little community; tbh it's exactly what happens in prison and why in part prison isn't a deterrent either. anyway i guess there is no deterrence because the student receives some benefit that makes the detention worth it (attention? feeling of power? or just doing something that the risk was worth taking in my case
).realistically tho what's the alternative (?); probably not manual labour or a slap on the wrist. can't allow the behaviour to continue or go unpunished either so idk. i'm just glad i'm not a teacher; imagine it's a hard job.
(edited 3 years ago)
They might work with the odd few. With the pupils who are normally well behaved and don't usually mis behave- they might work.
But for quite a few kids they don't work. I noticed when I was at school, quite a few of the people who got detentions were repeat offenders. It didn't have much effect on most of them.
There needs to be some new ways of disciplining kids at school.
But for quite a few kids they don't work. I noticed when I was at school, quite a few of the people who got detentions were repeat offenders. It didn't have much effect on most of them.
There needs to be some new ways of disciplining kids at school.
I think its pretty clear they do work for most people.
My school introduced sweeping changes one day. If you were found to have a uniform infringement - so shirt being untucked, tie being too short etc - it was instant 1 hour after school detention. And teachers actually did enforce that. The uniforms smartened up pretty damn quickly.
The ones where it doesn't work are those who get 'learned helplessness'. They always get detention so what's the point in even trying to avoid it. Under this new system, my school actually had people who had 50+ hours of outstanding detention (you also got 1 hour detention or any missed homework or 3 behavioural strikes). Clearly you can't serve more than a couple hours detention per day, so its completely lost all power at that point!
If you're actually allowed to talk to people during detention it also completely loses deterrent. Remember, that some kids have a horrible or maybe violent home environment and actually they will take any excuse to stay away.
But does it work for most people? Yeah course it does.
My school introduced sweeping changes one day. If you were found to have a uniform infringement - so shirt being untucked, tie being too short etc - it was instant 1 hour after school detention. And teachers actually did enforce that. The uniforms smartened up pretty damn quickly.
The ones where it doesn't work are those who get 'learned helplessness'. They always get detention so what's the point in even trying to avoid it. Under this new system, my school actually had people who had 50+ hours of outstanding detention (you also got 1 hour detention or any missed homework or 3 behavioural strikes). Clearly you can't serve more than a couple hours detention per day, so its completely lost all power at that point!
If you're actually allowed to talk to people during detention it also completely loses deterrent. Remember, that some kids have a horrible or maybe violent home environment and actually they will take any excuse to stay away.
But does it work for most people? Yeah course it does.
(edited 3 years ago)
Depends really, there are edge cases. For example, when I was in sixth form, I got an after school detention for being late to my A-Level Maths class, and in detention the teacher gave me a probability worksheet to complete (supposedly as punishment for being late to class.) Given that I enjoy maths, it wasn't really a deterrent to arriving late to class.
(edited 3 years ago)
Original post by nexttime
I think its pretty clear they do work for most people.
My school introduced sweeping changes one day. If you were found to have a uniform infringement - so shirt being untucked, tie being too short etc - it was instant 1 hour after school detention. And teachers actually did enforce that. The uniforms smartened up pretty damn quickly.
The ones where it doesn't work are those who get 'learned helplessness'. They always get detention so what's the point in even trying to avoid it. Under this new system, my school actually had people who had 50+ hours of outstanding detention (you also got 1 hour detention or any missed homework or 3 behavioural strikes). Clearly you can't serve more than a couple hours detention per day, so its completely lost all power at that point!
If you're actually allowed to talk to people during detention it also completely loses deterrent. Remember, that some kids have a horrible or maybe violent home environment and actually they will take any excuse to stay away.
But does it work for most people? Yeah course it does.
My school introduced sweeping changes one day. If you were found to have a uniform infringement - so shirt being untucked, tie being too short etc - it was instant 1 hour after school detention. And teachers actually did enforce that. The uniforms smartened up pretty damn quickly.
The ones where it doesn't work are those who get 'learned helplessness'. They always get detention so what's the point in even trying to avoid it. Under this new system, my school actually had people who had 50+ hours of outstanding detention (you also got 1 hour detention or any missed homework or 3 behavioural strikes). Clearly you can't serve more than a couple hours detention per day, so its completely lost all power at that point!
If you're actually allowed to talk to people during detention it also completely loses deterrent. Remember, that some kids have a horrible or maybe violent home environment and actually they will take any excuse to stay away.
But does it work for most people? Yeah course it does.
from reading this, then, most pupils are scared of detention so much so they would straighten their shirt and tie to avoid it, is that correct? but it doesn't address the OP who was in detention almost every week and couldn't be bothered to avoid it. those students you talked about (assumingly) never suffered detention, which is a different question to someone who actually has. personally assumed the question was about changing behaviour for those who been through detention (as per the OP), not the general student body
Depends if you understand what they are there to achieve or not.
If you think that detentions exist to change the behavior of badly behaved pupils, and make them good? then obviously they don't work.
But that's not the function they serve at all(despite the fact that many teacher's still don't get this). In reality detentions are nothing to do with the pupil being punished, but the 90% of other pupils who aren't being punished. They are a warning/deterrent to the vast majority of good/normally behaved pupils to stay in line and don't follow the behavior of the kid in detention.
Its a bit like fat shaming. Is having a society that looks down on fat people a good thing to make fat people loose weight? Obviously not. But is it a good way of motivating the majority of people of healthy weight to stay that way? yes.
This then becomes a moral question of is it ok to punish the problematic minority for the sake of helping the majority? Or is it possible to avoid the dilemma entirely and have both a deterrent and a way of helping/nurturing the minority? etc.
If you think that detentions exist to change the behavior of badly behaved pupils, and make them good? then obviously they don't work.
But that's not the function they serve at all(despite the fact that many teacher's still don't get this). In reality detentions are nothing to do with the pupil being punished, but the 90% of other pupils who aren't being punished. They are a warning/deterrent to the vast majority of good/normally behaved pupils to stay in line and don't follow the behavior of the kid in detention.
Its a bit like fat shaming. Is having a society that looks down on fat people a good thing to make fat people loose weight? Obviously not. But is it a good way of motivating the majority of people of healthy weight to stay that way? yes.
This then becomes a moral question of is it ok to punish the problematic minority for the sake of helping the majority? Or is it possible to avoid the dilemma entirely and have both a deterrent and a way of helping/nurturing the minority? etc.
Original post by Joleee
rofl no
as others have pointed out it's usually the same students in detention and as evidenced by the OP clearly detention doesn't work. well to my memory i've only had detention once, but pretty sure they put all the kids with detention in the same room, so they just chat with each other if they can get away with it. consequently, they form their own friendship group or little community; tbh it's exactly what happens in prison and why in part prison isn't a deterrent either. anyway i guess there is no deterrence because the student receives some benefit that makes the detention worth it (attention? feeling of power? or just doing something that the risk was worth taking in my case).
realistically tho what's the alternative (?); probably not manual labour or a slap on the wrist. can't allow the behaviour to continue or go unpunished either so idk. i'm just glad i'm not a teacher; imagine it's a hard job.
as others have pointed out it's usually the same students in detention and as evidenced by the OP clearly detention doesn't work. well to my memory i've only had detention once, but pretty sure they put all the kids with detention in the same room, so they just chat with each other if they can get away with it. consequently, they form their own friendship group or little community; tbh it's exactly what happens in prison and why in part prison isn't a deterrent either. anyway i guess there is no deterrence because the student receives some benefit that makes the detention worth it (attention? feeling of power? or just doing something that the risk was worth taking in my case
).realistically tho what's the alternative (?); probably not manual labour or a slap on the wrist. can't allow the behaviour to continue or go unpunished either so idk. i'm just glad i'm not a teacher; imagine it's a hard job.
Nah we were sent to pick up litter in different parts of the school s we couldn't chat.
Original post by Joleee
from reading this, then, most pupils are scared of detention so much so they would straighten their shirt and tie to avoid it, is that correct? but it doesn't address the OP who was in detention almost every week and couldn't be bothered to avoid it. those students you talked about (assumingly) never suffered detention, which is a different question to someone who actually has. personally assumed the question was about changing behaviour for those who been through detention (as per the OP), not the general student body
How was I supposed to avoid it when i literally got one because I'm sure you'll do something no other teacher ever gave me those kind of detentions in all the years I was there the guy just plain didn't like me and took any experience to make me miserable l could have just waked in like anyone else and still "give me your diary" every f***ing week.
Original post by jonathanemptage
I got one almost every week in year 8 (from the same teacher always an hour on friday (behavioural)) and I don't feel like I changed at all. I don't go to school anymore but I was just thinking about this last night and wondering if anyone else thinks these things work?
I should mention I wasn't that naughty after school detentions were just my schools go to punishment.
I should mention I wasn't that naughty after school detentions were just my schools go to punishment.
eh some it does for some and doesnt for some. It depends on what type of student you already are I guess. If you're a good student who is normally well behaved youll try your best not to get another detention but if you're a not so well behaved child and dont care for school youll probably nt care and continue getting detentions.
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