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Should after-school detention be banned?
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After-school detention simultaneously disciplines and keeps troubled kids occupied

School detention is intended first and foremost as a disciplinary strategy, but it also helps teachers understand their students better and keep troubled kids under a watchful eye, preventing them from misusing their time.

The Argument

Detention is not a simple blanket punishment used to admonish troubled kids. It is at once a reprimand for their wrongdoings and a prevention tactic for further misbehavior.[1] Teachers have limited tools at hand to control their students' behavior, and detention is one of the few that can take place within the school setting and also be productive towards furthering a student’s education.[2] Detention can come in many forms, and so long as a teacher is using appropriate and effective methods of disciplining a student, it should be retained as a form of educational reprimand.[3] The additional benefit of after-school detention is that it keeps that subset of children who are likely to get up to trouble outside of school as well in a setting where they can have a watchful eye on them. This time is not meant to be cruel but disciplinary, and it offers an opportunity for students to bond with teachers and make up for work they may have missed while misbehaving.

Counter arguments

The teacher should not be a disciplinarian. If the concern is keeping the student occupied during all hours of the day to prevent them from causing too much trouble, they should contact the parents to take over that disciplinarian role.[4]

Proponents

Premises

Rejecting the premises

References

  1. https://www.scmp.com/yp/discover/your-voice/opinion/article/3060164/face-detention-effective-punishment-students
  2. https://richardjamesrogers.com/2018/05/13/the-effective-use-of-detentions/
  3. https://www.apa.org/pubs/info/reports/zero-tolerance-report.pdf
  4. https://www.forbes.com/sites/nickmorrison/2014/08/31/the-surprising-truth-about-discipline-in-schools/?sh=74a9dc863f83
This page was last edited on Thursday, 12 Nov 2020 at 19:51 UTC