Detention

Description of the Strategy

Detention is a form of school disciplinary action that requires a student to stay after school. Although the term detention may be used for any situation in which a student is required to stay after school (e.g., teacher requiring a student to stay after school to complete an assignment), this term is used more commonly in the context of a standardized, schoolwide discipline system for assigning and managing detention as a disciplinary consequence. Although detention may occur at any grade level, it is used more commonly in secondary schools than in elementary schools.

Detention is a required consequence, intended as a punishment for inappropriate behavior or lack of academic progress. The use of detention should be distinguished from consequences in which students voluntarily stay after school or when students are asked to stay after school for a brief conference, specialized assistance, or tutoring. Generally, these situations are not considered detention.

A written form completed by a teacher or other staff member is usually used to assign a student to detention. Sometimes the school office discipline referral form serves this function, or a separate detention form is used. In the latter case, the behaviors triggering the consequence and the occasions that a student is assigned a detention may not become part of the student's disciplinary record. In some schools' policies, a teacher can assign one or more (or up to a certain number) of detention sessions directly. In other schools, only administrators assign detention, based on the referral form, a conference with the student, school and district policy, or other circumstances. In all uses, the form serves as a tracking, accountability, communication, and follow-up tool.

Although detention procedures vary, the general steps include (a) assignment and documentation of the detention consequence, (b) attendance at assigned detention place and time, and (c) follow-up or debriefing of the event. Polices and rules are in place for (a) behavior during detention, (b) consequences for arriving late or missing detention, (c) consequences [Page 1255]for repeated detention assignments, (d) procedures for communicating with parents and teachers, and (e) requirements for returning to class.

In most schools, detention is held in one classroom or auditorium and is supervised by an assigned teacher or administrator. While students are in the detention location, they are typically expected to sit quietly without talking to others. Most detention policies expect students to bring homework or assignments, including books and materials that students may work on during the detention period. Some policies are specific about the nature of the work, as well as behavior expected during the detention (e.g., no sleeping, talking, or eating). Historically, some specific assignments related to the misbehavior have also been employed, such as writing an essay or apology about the student misbehavior that resulted in the detention or, in some cases, writing over and over a sentence indicating that the student will not repeat the behavior again. Some detention situations have segregated boys from girls or have assigned seats (separated from peers) during detention to deter additional behavior problems during the detention period.

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