Schools use detention as a form of discipline in an attempt to promote responsible behavior. The premise is that punishment redirects irresponsibility.
When giving public seminars, I often ask how many of the attendees were in schools that had detention. Most attendees raise their hands. I then ask how many find that very often the same students are serving detention.
Inevitably, the same hands go up. I then comment, “Doesn’t that say something about the ineffectiveness of detention?”
Perhaps the best paragraph I have read on the issue is from LouAnne Johnson in her book, “The Queen of Education.”
… >>> READ MORE >>> →Using detention as a catchall cure for student misbehaviors is like using one medicine for every physical ailment. We would not