behavior improvement detention assignment

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Richard James Rogers

Educational articles and advice for teachers. www.amazon.com/author/rogersrichard

The Effective Use of Detentions

An article by   Richard James Rogers   (Author of  The Quick Guide to Classroom Management )

Illustrated by   Pop Sutthiya Lertyongphati  

The events in this article are based on actual occurrences. The names and, in some instances, the genders of individuals have been changed to protect the individuals’ privacy.

He opened his laptop and started playing around, again. I hadn’t quite noticed until I’d gotten the rest of this Year 7 class to get their books open and start completing the questions that were on the whiteboard.

It took a good five minutes for them all to settle down.

They’d just been learning about the human body in the best way I could think of: They took apart a life-sized model of a human female (filled with plastic, life-sized organs) and completely rebuilt it.

It had gotten them quite excited; especially the boys, who thought that the mammary glands inside a female breast were completely hilarious!

The class then had to cut and stick a paper human body together – organs included. But he was taking too long.

Christopher  was a happy and talkative kid, but his work-rate was slow. On two occasions that lesson I walked over to his desk to help out and remind him to speed up, as everyone else was ahead of where he was. He should have been able to get that work done quickly. He had no Special Educational Needs and his English proficiency had increased so much in three months that he had graduated from the E.L.D. programme.

The only thing slowing him down was his chattiness.

I should have moved him sooner in the lesson – my mistake. 15  minutes before the end of the class I moved him to the front to sit next to me, where he couldn’t chat with friends and be distracted.

It wasn’t enough time.

I pondered the idea of giving him a detention. Break-time was straight after this lesson, so it would be easy for me to keep him behind for ten minutes to get that work done. 

The concept and purpose of detentions

Before we can fully understand how to use detentions effectively, we must first remind ourselves of what detentions are and, therefore, what their purpose should be. 

A detention is a period of time that is purposefully taken away from a student’s extra-curricular or non-curricular time. It may involve a teacher-supervised activity during a morning break, lunch or after school. 

Detentions are given to students for a wide-variety of reasons; some of which are more logical than others. Reasons for detentions (starting with the most logical and useful) can include:

• Failure to complete homework or classwork
• Poor attendance
• Persistent lateness/lack of punctuality
• Disruption to class activities through poor behaviour
• Receiving a certain, set number of ‘warnings’ or ‘demerits’

Christopher’s case as an example to follow

The most logical and useful way to use detentions is time-for-time:  time not spent completing homework or classwork should be compensated by time spent on detention.

In Christopher’s case I decided to give the break-time detention. Here are the reasons for my choice:

• The Science lesson ended at break-time, so it was convenient for me to keep him behind in my class (I didn’t have the problem of, say, giving him a lunchtime detention for the next day and then having to remember that he is coming and maybe chase him up if he doesn’t come along). 
• Christopher would be exchanging his breaktime for time spent completing his classwork. He must do this, as he will fall behind if he doesn’t.
• The detention serves as a reinforcement of the teacher’s authority, and a stern reminder that a poor work-ethic just won’t be tolerated. It turns out that after only two such break-time detentions, Christopher pulled up his socks and began working at a reasonable pace during lessons. 

General tips for detentions that will save you many problems

Every detention must attempt to address or solve the problem that it was given for .

Consider the following:

• Detentions eat up the teacher’s time as well as the students, so we really should only be giving out detentions when it is absolutely necessary (as in Christopher’s case above)
• For homework that’s not done on time: call the perpetrating student or students to your desk for a quick one-to-one discussion at the end of class, or during a class activity. Express your disappointment, and why meeting deadlines is important. Relate it to the world of work, for example “If I didn’t write your reports on time, what would happen to me? That’s right, I’d be in big trouble” . Allow the students an extra day or so to get the work done. No need for conflict, no need to spend your precious lunch time giving a detention.
• If students still don’t hand in the homework even after extending a deadline, then it is necessary to give a detention. CRUCIALLY, however, the purpose of the detention MUST be to complete that homework. Print the sheet again if necessary, provide the necessary resources and get the student to complete the work. This makes the detention less confrontational and reinforces the reason why it was given in the first place. 
• The same goes for classwork: give students the chance to take their books home and complete classwork if it isn’t done on-time in class. Persistent slow work-rates in class, if not caused by reasonable circumstances (such as Special Educational Needs), should be met with detentions that allow the student to catch up. In almost every case you’ll find that the students will cotton-on to the fact that they can’t get away with distraction and laziness in class, and they’ll soon improve. For those that don’t improve even after focused detentions, further action will be needed and may involve parents and senior/middle management. 
• For poor behaviour, detentions need to be planned and crafted really well. Remember: the detention should attempt to address or solve the problem that it was given for . I remember a couple of years back when two boys got involved in a bit of a scuffle in the science lab. It wasn’t anything major, but one kid said a nasty word to the other and that kid decided to punch his mate in the arm quite hard. As a Science Teacher, this is something I must absolutely nip-in-the-bud because safety in the lab is paramount, and kids just can’t scuffle or fight in there: period. I gave them both a detention for the next day at 1pm. They came, and I spent the time explaining to them why their behavior was unacceptable. They wrote letters of apology to me and each other, and left the detention understanding exactly why I had taken their time away from them. I didn’t have a problem with them again.
• Lessons that end at break times work well for giving detentions if necessary, as you can easily retain the students when the bell rings. If you do assign detentions for the next day or at a later time, then pencil those into your diary – this will serve both as a useful reminder and as a record of who’ve you’ve given detentions to and how often. 

Recurring work 

I’m a massive believer in the power of recurring work and journaling, and have written about it in detail here and here . 

Learning journals are just great for giving regular recurring feedback and for consolidating and reviewing cumulative knowledge gained throughout an academic year. But did you know that Learning Journals save you many a supervised detention too?

Many schools provide homework timetables for students and teachers to follow. With the very best of intentions, these timetables aim to distribute student and teacher workload evenly and fairly. However, they can prove difficult to follow when units include different intensities of work, and when school events get in the way.

Set Learning Journals as homework each week. The basic idea is that students buy their own notebook and fill it with colorful revision notes on a weekly basis (although they can be done online too: through Google Sites, for example). Perhaps your Year 10 class could hand-in their learning journals in every Wednesday, and collect them from you (with feedback written inside, see the articles cited above) every Friday. By setting up a register of collection that the students sign, you can easily see who hasn’t handed in their journal that week.

Then……follow the guidelines given above for dealing with late or un-submitted homework. You’ll find that after a few weeks of initiating Learning Journals you’ll get a near 100% hand-in rate, because the students are really clear about what is expected each week, because it is a recurring homework. 

Whole school  considerations

Many schools adopt a popular (but massively problematic) ‘mass-detention’ system of some sort, which works something like this:

• The student receives the requisite number of ‘warnings’ in a particular lesson which lead to a break or lunch time detention being given
• The student is sent to a room with other students from the school who’ve also received detentions
• Teachers supervise the ‘detention room’ on a rotating basis, thereby (in theory), sharing the workload across the staff body
• The students are given generic tasks to do during the detention time, which may include filling in a form, completing homework or in the very worst cases just sitting still and being quiet for twenty minutes or so.

The problem with systems like this is that they are not personal to the students receiving the detentions. They do not follow the ‘golden rule’: that detentions should address or solve the problem that they were given for .

What’s much more effective in the long-term is to trust individual teachers to administer their own detentions. Perhaps provide a quick training session based on good practice (feel free to use this article if you wish), and allow the teachers to then use their judgement to decide when and how detentions should be given.

Student detentions are only effective when they have the ‘ personal touch’ . When detentions address the original issue by allowing more time to complete homework or classwork, or allow for a one-on-one discussion about behaviour, the following magical things happen:

• The detention is given from a standpoint of care and concern, not confrontation and aggression
• Students realise the reason why the detention was given as this reason is reinforced by the activities given during the time of the detention
• Students improve. It’s that simple. Mass detention systems rarely work because they don’t pinpoint the personal reasons behind why the student is under-performing. Detentions with the ‘ personal touch’ cause students to realise their errors and most, if not all, will improve in a short space of time. 

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Author: richardjamesrogers

High School Science and Mathematics Teacher, Author and Blogger. Graduated from Bangor University with a BSc (Hons) degree in Molecular Biology and a PGCE in Secondary Science Education. Richard also holds the coveted Certificate in Mathematics from the Open University (UK). Richard is the award-winning author of The Quick Guide to Classroom Management: 45 Secrets That All High School Teachers Need to Know View All Posts

2 thoughts on “ The Effective Use of Detentions ”

• Pingback: When Kids Don’t Return Homework – What can we do?

Is it acceptable and legal to make students clean the school windows as a detention task ? It happened in my child’s school and parents did not complain but I am concerned this is abuse of power

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Need Behaviour Assignments for Consequences

Discussion in ' Behavior Management Archives ' started by dannyteach , Dec 6, 2010 .

dannyteach New Member

Dec 6, 2010

I'm looking for some help! I am in my 7th year of teaching and have a little guy in my grade 7 class this year. I taught him last year and was blessed with his sweet return to my class list this year. He is the most disruptive, disrespectful, high energy child I have yet to come across. am usually the teacher who invites challenges like this into my class...however this littleguy has got me, my principal, the admin beat! I am looking for support and help in ways to deal with him when he gets into his distructive states. I would like to come up with assignments for him to do that address his poor behaviour choices in class / on the playground. For example, if he swears at a teacher or pretends to shoot his classmates consistantly, having him write a journal entry from his teacher's perspective or classmates on what they may be feeling. Having him do a behavioural report when sent out of the classroom to reflect on his behaviours. I would like to come up with 10 or so behavior related assignments for him to do in the office when he is not ready to be in class. These can be kept with the principal and he must complete one before being permitted to return to class. Any ideas for assignments? reports? projects? readings? etc. It would be very much appreciated! I need to somehow survive this child this year and it is only December!!! Thanks! Danielle  

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StellatheSub Rookie

Dec 8, 2010

Age 7 or grade 7?  

Aliceacc Multitudinous

Hi Danielle, and welcome! I'm guessing 7th grade. And I've got to be honest and admit that I'm in a bit over my head; my typical "not bad enough for detention" assignment is to multiply your phone number by your zip code. The next time you stay after, you have to check it by long division. I tend not to have too many repeat offenders. How about an essay on the meaning of "respect", starting with a dictionary definition? Likewise "Civility" and "Cooperation"???  

Cerek Aficionado

The writing assignments sound like a good idea, because it will force him to actually THINK about what he is doing and how it affects other people. Having him describe his actions from the other person's POV might make him think about the impact his actions are having. I also like Alice's idea of writing a short paper on respect, civility, cooperation, etc by beginning with the dictionary definition. Other ideas for writing assignments could be: 1) Describe a typical school day from the time you wake up till you go to bed that night. Write about the things that happen on a normal day for you. (This might provide some insight from HIS POV about why he is so out of control. What is triggering all of that anger and disruption?) 2) List the name of 10 classmates and write one good quality or positive comment about each one. How does the person display this quality? What is unique about him/her? What affect (if any) does this quality or attribute have on other classmates? (Perhaps if he lists positive qualities of others and how it affects the classroom environment, he will begin to think about how some of those qualities or behaviors would work for him. You could also do this assignment several times, making him list 10 different classmates each time until he has eventually written one positive comment about each of them). 3) What do you want to do when you are grown and out of school? What kind of job do you think you would like to have? (hopefully, this will make him think about future goals and help him start focusing on what he needs to do to reach them). 4) If you had 1 day to do whatever you wanted, what would you do? (if he writes something like "play video games all day" or "sit around the house", then future assignments can focus more on describing a favorite hobby or activity OTHER than video games. Try to make him think of something that requires some energy and thought and describe what he enjoys most about that activity) 5) Imagine YOU are a middle school teacher. Describe what you think a normal day of school would be like for you then. What subject would you teach? What kind of lessons would you do? How would you make the lessons interesting for all the students? How much time do you think it would take to grade all the papers from every class you have? Those are some ideas off the top of my head. I'm not sure how much success you will actually have getting him to do any of these, but once he is removed from the situation that is upsetting him and has some time to calm down, maybe he will begin to reflect on these ideas and how he can use them to change his behavior. If he DOES complete the assignments, he will have been forced to think about his actions (and their impact) a little more deeply and will also provide insight to you about what is triggering these reactions and things he wishes were different about his environment.  

teacher12345 Cohort

Some other assignment ideas: 1. Writing a letter of apology to the teacher stating what he did, why it was not acceptable, how his actions impacted others, others point of view and what others think of him when he acts this way, how it makes his teacher feel when he acts this way, and what he could do next time instead. 2. Comparing and Contrasting his behavior with that of other students in his grade or class: IE: Other 7th graders treat their teachers with respect and use respectful words when talking with them, and I sweared at my teacher and then stating what other people may think of him if he keeps doing this behavior, ie: dissruptive, obnoxious, rude, don't want to be around him, direspectful, disobedient, defient, weird, goofs off alot, can't listen and follow directions, annoying to be around etc. 3. Write the following words and their defenitions from the dictionary 3 times each and use them in a sentence; cooperative/cooperate/cooperating, respectful, responsible, polite, curtious, rude, defient, and obnoxious. 4. Make a list of why his behavior was not appropriate: EX: it was disruptive, rude, not respecting teacher or peers trying to learn/teach, spoke out of turn, bad language, others were mad, etc. 5. Cause and Effect note cards: given a situation or behavior he will write down the effect 6. he will write a poem about how his behavior effected others/other people's point of view, teacher's point of view 7. He will write a diary entry as if he was the teacher and had a disrespectful, rude, uncooperative student in his classroom, stating why it was annoying, what the student did, why it made it hard for him to teach etc. 8. Write a diary entry as if he was a classmate of a student who acted like he did, disrespectful, rude, etc.  

paperheart Groupie

Dec 11, 2010

Name 50 careers that require a college education. Name 50 reasons that explain why you are bright, beautiful and just plain awesome. Imagine you are a superhero. Name 50 super powers you would like to have. Now describe 10 qualities you do have that can lead to good.  

Dec 12, 2010

Some of these sound downright fun! Detention in my school involves copying, word for word, a page of typed print. The last time I had detention duty, it concerned Brown vs the Board of Education. It used to be copying a page from the dictionay. Saturday detention is copying the Constitution. As you decide on the assignments, keep in mind: the point is that it's NOT fun. It's something to be avoided.  

Pisces_Fish Fanatic

Aliceacc said: ↑ Some of these sound downright fun! Detention in my school involves copying, word for word, a page of typed print. The last time I had detention duty, it concerned Brown vs the Board of Education. It used to be copying a page from the dictionay. Saturday detention is copying the Constitution. As you decide on the assignments, keep in mind: the point is that it's NOT fun. It's something to be avoided. Click to expand...

swansong1 Virtuoso

Here's my opinion as an ESE teacher: The children that Alice gives detention to are normal children with normal behaviors that have transgressed a little. Therefore, her punishment is absolutely acceptable. This 7th grader exhibits unusual and abnormal behavior ( as in a child with behavioral disabilities). He needs to have behavioral modification strategies to help him learn more acceptable behaviors in school. So, the writing assignments you all have suggested would act as behavioral modification strategies and would be be a good start for him to begin learning ways to change his behavior. I'm guessing he will not find these writing assignments easy. As a matter of fact, the fact that he will have to sit quietly and give some thought to his actions and then compose a response will give him difficulty because he has shown that those types of activities are not something he can handle easily..  

Excellent point swan!  

Teacherella Habitué

Jan 10, 2011

Whatever consequence you decide on, I would make sure that it won't make him hate writing. It would be a shame for him to associate writing as a punishment. I like the idea of him listing 50 positive traits about himself and maybe have him choose one to write about. I'm a firm believer in giving students logical consequences so I think it should directly relate to whatever reason he was send down to the office.  

MamaFisch New Member

Mar 7, 2011

I have several specially selected sections from our student code of conduct. Students have to copy it. If it is a short selection, I have them copy it several times and then I send home the page, with a note from me, to be signed by their parent. On our campus, three minor offenses that are documented and addressed result in a referral, so this also provides documentation and proof of parent notification. I also have students who make messes stay to clean up. Writing on desks and walls means erasing marks in the hallway. Students who run in the hall have to do 20 walking laps from one end of the hallway to the other, etc.  

sidhewing Rookie

Mar 11, 2011

Personal Responsibility Grade I believe in the "personal responsibility grade." I would suggest to give this to the whole class. It's a form that grades students on their behavior and is generally 15-20% of their overall grade. Each week you grades students on tardiness, absences, participation and respectful behavior. Allow yourself 2-3 sentences if they did something really disrespectful like curse, hurt a student etc. AND then allow them a space to "agree" or "disagree" with your grade and a space that allows them to answer: What could I do in the future to improve my grade? I've found that it is surprisingly effective and students sometimes are chillingly honest. If you don't want to do that have you considered a Behavior plan? Where you sit down with the students and together your brain storm was is disruptive/ productive and what the consequences/ rewards are? Or what about a progress chart where it's just between you and the student? So, that the students won't be embarrassed in front of his friends? Good luck!!  

m1trLG2 Companion

Apr 17, 2011

How are mom and dad? Here are some things we did in treatment as well as somethings I have used in the classroom. 1) Have him write a letter home to his parent that gets signed about his behavior. Do this in a guided writing style. "Dear Mom and Dad I was very disrespectful today. I made the choice to _______." Get it signed and returned (more effective if mom and dad are involved though). 2) Do "SODAS" with him as part of his journaling. S- Situation O- Options D- Disadvantages A- Advantages S- Solution Here is what it would look like: S- I want to color instead of do the work I'm supposed to do. O- Do my work or chose to color. D- If I chose to color my teacher will get upset, send a letter home, mom and dad will get upset, I will spend the rest of my day arguing. If I chose to do my work I don't get to do what I want and that upsets me. A- If I chose to do my work, perhaps I will finish early and be allowed to color and have some free time. My parents won't be upset, and my teacher won't get upset. If I chose to color, I get to do what I want. S- I think I will do my work and then color later and that way I don't have to deal with the upset people. This can be something he is allowed to do if he can recognize himself "losing control" it's a "stop and think" method. However it can also be used afterwards and then the solution would be the one he picked but why it didn't work out would be made clear in disadvantages. 3) This isn't a "punishment" but can be effective for helping to change behavior. A lot of behavior kids get overwhelmed very quickly and again need to "stop and think". Have him "take a break". This is good for ALL kids but mostly get utilized by behavioral kids. If he is being crazy and hyper and defiant tell him, "I think you need to take a break, please go have a seat facing the wall in the break chair." Give him 5 minutes and then ask him to join you OR tell him, "when you think you can make better choices let me know and you can join us" but if it's over five minutes have him make up the time during recess or with an assignment or something. This way he doesn't just go back to a corner and play. Sometimes these kids just get stuck in a loop and honestly don't know how to get out. 4) Have him do "self awareness" worksheets. Now, prior to teaching I was a behavioral therapist and I am a supporter of the cognitive behavioral school of thought. So, feel free to disagree I just wanted to say this is from that standpoint. A lot of behavioral kids are unable to put themselves in another person's shoes. This kid may be able to write a great response of how it would "feel" to be a teacher dealing with a kid like him but he doesn't "feel" that. He has observed your behaviors and listened and knows what to say. Giving assignments that require introspection will be more effective at changing his behaviors. Here are a few links. http://www.box.net/shared/fp9tziylhr http://www.stressgroup.com/ABCworksheet.html http://practicegroundprojects.wetpaint.com/page/Handouts,+Protocols+&+Client+Learning+Activities These are all similar to the SODAS approach and designed to have the child look inside to assess behaviors and slow down... again Stop and Think. If you google "Behavioral Therapy Worksheets" you will find lots of things he can work on. Also, ask the school guidance counselor if she/he has anything like these worksheets that he could work on. Lots of times the behavior is impulsive and there is no reason the child did it. So, the solution is learning to recognize impulsive behavior and then be able to stop and take charge of it. Hope some of this helps!  

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How to Reduce After-School Detentions and Make Them Meaningful

Detention has been around for as long as I can remember, and some of us—myself included—have served a detention or two when we were students. When I became principal of Wilson West Middle School, I thought deeply about detention as part of our discipline practice. Do detention policies that have been around for decades work for today’s students? If the same students keep finding themselves in detention, what good do they serve? Are detentions effective and helping students learn from their mistakes or do schools keep them simply because they are so ingrained in our tradition?

What if there was a way to stop the same students from receiving detentions or not give them any at all? You can, by replacing it with more constructive ways for students to learn from their mistakes.

Here’s what we did at Wilson West Middle School to reduce detentions and make them more meaningful:

Create a Staff Committee to Review Discipline

Like so much of our work as school leaders, we are better when we work together. We formed a committee of administrators, teachers, and counselors to review our current approaches to discipline and detention policies and looked closely at what infractions students were committing to gain an understanding of what was really happening with detention. What we saw was the same students receiving repeated detentions and not all of our teachers assigning detentions; only a few teachers gave detentions, so some students had higher detention numbers only because they had a particular teacher. And when we asked these teachers why they assigned detentions, it wasn’t because they thought them particularly effective at curbing the behavior, but rather they did it because that is what the student handbook required and there was no other way to address the behavior.

Update Outdated Detention Policies

These observations led us to review our detention policies. Our committee realized quickly how outdated some of the rules were, and we needed to make changes. For example, we dropped the no gum or food policies schoolwide and turned that responsibility over to the individual classroom teacher. Each teacher decides if they want to make that a classroom rule/policy. In real life everyone can eat and drink anywhere they want unless it is posted. Are we not getting our children ready for the next level? Teachers and staff have that morning cup of coffee or tea. Why can’t students? Do we practice what we preach?

Another big issue for which students were getting detentions involved being late to class. To address this issue, we got rid of our bell schedule. This required a major climate shift in the building, and there was immediate pushback from the staff. I created a schedule that had one-minute passing times between classes and explained to the teachers that they should be the ones starting and dismissing the classes, not the bell. Next time you are in the hallway, take a look at the number of students that stand in the hallway speaking with friends, waiting for the bell to ring before darting into class. To avoid the sporadic and inconsistent nature of late markings, there are no bells. In addition, it more closely resembles the nature of the likely next leg of their journey—college.

Creating New Detention Criteria

Just by making these two changes, we saw an overall decrease in detentions by 75 percent. The detentions that are assigned are addressed by the teacher or administrator with a call home and engagement with a parent/guardian. Getting the parents/guardians involved is the first step in making detentions more meaningful for students. After all, if the infraction is bad enough to warrant a detention, then parents need to be called.

We also track the students who are getting detentions. If a student gets four or more detentions in a quarter, we set up a conference with the parent/guardian. The staff that are invited usually consist of grade-level team members, a counselor, an administrator, and other interested parties. These meetings help to address the problem behaviors in a more direct way by discussing the underlying issues that led to the infraction in the first place.

Making Time in Detention More Meaningful

• Write a reflection as to why they got detention in the first place and what they could have done differently.
• Have a one-on-one conference with the monitor who asks the student a variety of questions for personal reflection. We developed questions for various situations to guide these conferences.
• Read an article about their offense and then report out to the counselor.
• Set goals. One of those goals should be not to get detention ever again.
• Write an apology letter to their parents for being assigned the detention. In the letter they should explain why they got the detention and thank them for picking them up after detention.

We also use lunch detentions. When serving a lunch detention, the student needs to do schoolwork as they are eating. This is also a good time to have teachers conference with students to discuss why they received the lunch detention. (Check with the building union representative prior to asking a teacher to do this during their lunch.)

Changing our detention policies have shifted our culture from a punitive one where students’ every move is monitored to a restorative one where students have more autonomy and choice. I encourage all of you to review your school’s approach to discipline and its detention policies. Making a few adjustments can definitely change the climate of your building for the better.

What is your school’s approach to detention? What strategies help make detention more meaningful and effective?

Kyle Wetherhold is the Principal at Wilson West Middle School, a state and national School to Watch. He is the 2018 Pennsylvania Principal of the Year. Follow him on Twitter @ wetkyl .

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3 Alternatives to Assigning Detention

Developing relationships with students to help them make positive choices requires planning and patience, but the work pays off.

There may be times when you have reached the end of your patience with a student’s behavior. They may disrupt learning or repeat a negative behavior too many times. What do we do as teachers in these scenarios? Sometimes the simple answer is assigning detention.

Yet detention is not an effective discipline tool for some students , and in fact it might increase the recurrence of negative behavior. Detention and other punitive measures, like suspensions and expulsions, can contribute to other issues , such as recidivism among students, despite harsher or longer punishments. These measures have the potential to increase apathy and defiance. They can jeopardize teachers’ and staff’s efforts to build relationships and trust. Finally, they can have a negative effect on a student’s academic performance.

There is evidence of racial and ethnic disparities among students assigned to detention. In 2014, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights sent a letter to educators outlining the disparities and offering alternatives to detention and suspension. Instead of detention, the DOE recommends restorative practices and positive interventions, such as counseling.

There may be severe circumstances that require removing a student from the school environment and placing them on off-campus suspension, such as hitting, fighting, threatening, or verbal assault. But before submitting a detention referral form for minor, day-to-day offenses, consider these three alternatives.

One suggestion is to create a reflection room in place of one for detention. In it, teachers, administrators, caregivers, and the student go through a reflective process to understand the root cause of a conflict and assist the student in understanding and identifying better options. Reflective practices teach students what actions they can take in the future when confronted with difficult situations.

As a middle school assistant principal, I recently had two students referred to me for pushing each other during recess. As I spoke with each of the students individually, I realized they had very different perspectives on what had occurred. “I tripped and landed on him. Really!” versus “He deliberately ran into me!”

These two students needed to learn how to see a situation from another person’s point of view. They each wrote a narrative description of the scuffle as if they were the other person. I followed up with each student separately, and both realized that perhaps they had misinterpreted the other person’s intentions. After writing a reflection, there’s no guarantee that they will never push each other again. But maybe they’ll take a moment to consider what the other person is thinking before they react physically.

Logical Consequences

If you are familiar with the concept of the Responsive Classroom , you might have heard about logical consequences . Instead of harsh punishment, the teacher gently instructs the student on how to correct their errors.

At the end of the discussion, students become empowered because the teacher assists them in reaching epiphanies like “When I knock things down, I have to help build them back up,” “I can fix things when I mess up,” or “My teacher helps me solve problems.” If a student leaves a mess at the lunch table, the obvious next step is to clean it up. Please keep in mind that this is not a suggestion to assign illogical chores, such as “You forgot your homework, now scrape gum off the sidewalk.”

The tone of the teacher is critical when using logical consequences. It should convey problem-solving and learning rather than anger or frustration. Maintaining students’ dignity is essential for assisting them in learning from an experience.

Logical consequences do not always have to be negative. When students make thoughtful decisions that result in good outcomes, note it. Ask your school administration if they will accept “positive office referrals” in which a teacher refers a student for helpful behaviors. How cool would it be if your students routinely wondered, “Is she there for a positive referral?” whenever the principal called a student out of class.

Restorative Practices

Restorative practices, in a nutshell, teach students how to right the wrongs they have caused. They provide alternatives to using punishment and build healthier learning communities. To quote Arkansas principal Chelsea Jennings , “Kids who are frequently in trouble are often testing a system that has repeatedly failed them, but a restorative approach says ‘we are not giving up on you.’”

If a student disrespects another student or staff member in words or actions, how can that student attempt to repair the harm done? A science teacher at our school implemented this approach when a student disrupted her class. The teacher informed the student that her disruptive behavior had taken away instructional time, and as a result, the student would have to help the teacher recoup some of the lost time by assisting with the prep for the next lab before school. Even if the student thought that prepping for a lab was enjoyable or fun, that student was fulfilling the spirit of the consequence: making up for the lost time.

Peer conflict resolution assists students in working to repair the harm done to another student. Students can be taught conflict resolution with the help of a faculty member or counselor. If a student uses a slur or disrespectful language, that student should investigate why that language is harmful. By conducting research first, the offending student can craft a more sympathetic and informed apology to the victim.

An example of this is a middle school student who made a racially insensitive joke. From speaking with the student, it was clear that he did not know the joke was offensive. He was repeating what he had read on the internet. After doing some research on the origins of the joke, the student realized why it was hurtful and sincerely apologized.

There would be no growth, no new understanding, no repairing of harm, if I simply assigned him detention.

The alternatives suggested above are not quick and easy. Some people will object, fearing that restorative practices are letting students off easy or with just a slap on the wrist. These are valid concerns, but one important point to remember is that restorative practices are preventive actions based on relationships.

Building the relationships necessary to guide students toward positive choices requires creativity, planning, and a lot of patience. So why do it? It pays off when students’ behavior improves and the community becomes a more positive environment.

• Grades 6-12
• School Leaders

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Still Giving Detention? Here Are 5 Better Alternatives

Detention usually doesn’t work. Here is what does.

All too often, when a student misbehaves in class, they are sent to the front office, an administrator assigns a detention, and the instance gets swept under the rug. The teacher is left assuming that the student showed up for their punishment and that sitting in a quiet place for an hour after school “fixed” the problem. However, more often than not, the detention doesn’t work . Those of us who manage the detention hall see the same kids every week, making it clear that repeat offenders are not learning from this discipline practice. Schools need to  evaluate the effectiveness  of detention and begin searching for alternatives to detention. Here are five effective ways to correct student behavior without using detention.

1. Stop bad behavior before it starts.

This may seem obvious, but sometimes the key to curtailing misbehavior is addressing it before it happens. Take instructional time to work on soft skills that lead to better behavior. Especially at the secondary level, it is easy to take for granted that students know how to act in a classroom. Some just haven’t figured it all out yet. One thing I have done in my classes that works is bringing in a counselor, teacher, or administrator and role-playing conflict resolution and problem-solving techniques. We use real-world scenarios and model positive reactions to them for students.

For example, in my class we do a lot of collaborative projects. One issue that commonly pops up is that one person dominates the conversation, asserting their ideas over those of others. This can lead to heated moments that can get out of hand. So I bring in a colleague, and we discuss an actual upcoming unit, set up a college visit, or brainstorm the next school event—something to model professional collaboration. We always start with modeling the wrong behavior, demonstrating the incorrect way to handle an argument. Then we show a balanced, collaborative approach. Students get to see proper behavior and learn the importance of these skills, and teachers can then refer back to them throughout the year. When students see positive behavior modeled for them, they learn the expectations and work to achieve them.

2. Hold a lunch workshop instead of a lunch detention.

One way to help students actually learn and take away meaning from their mistakes is through a lunch workshop. At my school, we have a counselor who meets with students one day per week during the student’s lunch. Teachers and administrators can refer a student to this, and students are notified from the office that they are scheduled for a workshop. On that day, students have to report to the counseling office, their lunch is already there (so students don’t wander around or waste time in the lunch line), and they begin immediately.

Our counselor runs the miniworkshop, focusing on a particular character-development issue such as overcoming adversity, surrounding yourself with positive people, or developing a growth mindset . It’s important to note that for this to work, the topics need to be genuine. She talks to the students for roughly 15 minutes while they eat and listen. They then discuss or write about the takeaways they have. Lunch workshops often lead to deep discussions about issues these students are actually struggling with. They also help students build a connection with our counselor. Lastly, they cause students to miss their free time at lunch, which no student wants to do. So while still having an aspect of detention, the time is at least constructive.

3. Have students write reflections.

This is similar to the lunch workshop model, but it doesn’t require a staff member to set up additional time in their schedule. If a student has a regular issue of misbehavior, teachers can have them write about it and reflect on the issue. I have found that when it comes to assigning written reflections, things need to be authentic. If students feel like this is just a hoop they have to jump through to get out of trouble, it will not help. Instead, respond to what the student says (in writing or verbally) and engage with them about what they wrote.

Giving students an opportunity to reflect and be heard not only curbs future negative behavior but also grows your relationship with them. So the next time Johnny acts out in class, instead of just removing him and putting him in ISS or detention, have him write about it. You might just learn that he is truly struggling with something at home and needs help. Set up a time to meet with him and help him. Turn a negative into a positive.

4. Bring in after-school support (coaches, club advisors, directors).

One of the best tools educators have is the availability to bridge the gap from the school day to extracurricular activities. Now this doesn’t help with all students since not everyone is involved in something after school. However, for those who are, this can work great. As a coach myself, I want to know that my players are representing the team well during the school day. If they aren’t, I have the ability to talk to them and relate how their actions have an impact outside the classroom.

I also have the option of making a student sit during a game or even kicking them off the team. For most students, just being aware of these consequences help things “click.” Teachers and administrators should not be afraid to reach out to these supports both during or after the season or event. Plus, as coaches, we have a few more forms of punishments at our disposal. (Running up and down bleachers, anyone?)

5. Reward positive behavior!

Part of the issue schools run into is that we get so caught up cracking down on the negative, that we overlook the fact that 99 percent of the students are doing exactly what they are supposed to be doing. Why not reward those who are being model students? Give them athletic passes, partner with local businesses for discounts and freebies to distribute, reach out to sports teams for tickets, or give special parking opportunities. There are so many ways we can encourage positive choices rather than just punishing the negative ones. At first, this may produce surface level behaviors from some of the more difficult students. But over time, it will become an ingrained trait.

For instance, one issue that we wanted to address in a positive way at my school was how to encourage school pride. So for our home football games we created themes for our student sections. One theme was Hawaiian luau. In the week leading up to the big game, we gave out free leis and luau garb to students doing the right things, like not having their phones out in the hallway. Not only did this reward positive behavior, it also built school pride and was fun! While not a huge or expensive prize, students were motivated by it and appreciated being recognized.

Don’t just expect students to outgrow troubling behaviors by putting them into a silent room. Our goal as educators is to prepare students for what lies ahead. By using alternatives to detention, we can help students prepare for the real world while still holding them accountable for their shortcomings.

And as a bonus, you will never again have to send an email pleading for someone to cover detention duty.

Join the great conversations going on about school leadership in our Facebook groups  Principal Life   and  High School Principal Life .

Plus, check out this article about restorative practices.

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Teacher Behavioral Strategies: A Menu

• Challenging Students

Here is a sampling of strategies that teachers can use either to head off or to provide consequences for low- to medium-level student misbehavior:

Prior to Occurrence of Behavior(s):

Break student tasks into manageable 'chunks': Students may misbehave to escape activities that they find too hard or tedious. Consider breaking a larger task into smaller or easier 'chunks' that the student will more willingly undertake. If the student must complete a large number of subtasks, include an occasional 'fun break'.

Increase adult supervision/surveillance: When the student's misbehavior is 'covert' (hidden), increase the adult supervision in the area. Be sure that all adults supervising a particular school setting agree on what behaviors to single out for positive or negative consequences and know how to get additional assistance if student behaviors get out of hand.

Increase 'reinforcement' quality of classroom: If a student is acting out to be ejected from a classroom, it may be that student does not find the classroom setting and/or routine to be very rewarding. The teacher can make the classroom environment more attractive in a number of ways, including by posting interesting instructional materials (e.g., bulletin board displays), boosting the pace of (and degree of student interaction in) class lecture or discussion, and including additional instructional activities of high interest to students.

Offer choice: When students are offered opportunities to make simple but meaningful choices in their classroom routine, their behaviors can improve. Examples of choice include permitting students to select who they work with on a project, negotiate when an assignment will be due, and choose what book to read for an assignment.

Offer help strategies: Misbehavior may occur when students are stuck on a work assignment and do not know how to quickly and appropriately request help without drawing undue attention to themselves. Teachers can address this problem by teaching the entire class how to request assistance in a non-disruptive way. A teacher may, for example, instruct students with questions during seatwork to post a help-signal and continue working on other assignments or approach a peer-helper for assistance.

Preview rules/behavioral expectations: Some students misbehave because they are impulsive and do not always think through the consequences of their misbehavior before they act. These students can benefit from having the teacher briefly review rules and/or behavioral expectations just before the students go into a potentially challenging situation or setting (e.g., passing through the halls; going to an assembly). If the instructor has a classroom reward system in place, he or she can strengthen the rules preview by reminding students that the class can win points for good behavior.

Preview schedule: Having the teacher preview a student's schedule daily (or even more frequently) can help those children who seem to misbehave because they do not respond well to unexpected changes in schedule or cannot remember what their schedule is.

Provide skills instruction: If the teacher determines that a child engages in inappropriate behaviors because the student lacks alternative, 'replacement' skills, the instructor should set up a plan to provide the child with the necessary skills. Any skills instruction should include plenty of examples to illustrate the skill-set being taught, demonstration (e.g., modeling, role-play) and a 'checkup' (e.g., student demonstration and verbal 'walk-through' of steps to skill) to confirm to the teacher's satisfaction that the student has acquired the skill.

Rearrange student seating or classroom setup: If elements of the classroom setting appear to contribute to the student's behavior problems, consider changing the student's seating or the classroom setup to reduce these problems. For example a student who is distracted by peers may benefit from having his or her seat moved to a more private corner of the room.

Teach student to take 'calm-down' break: Students who frequently become angry at peers or who may be set off by the excitement of large groups may be taught to (1) identify when they are getting too tense, excited, or angry, and (2) take a short break away from the setting or situation until they have calmed down sufficiently.

During and After Occurrence of Behavior(s):

Apology: Apologies are one way that humans repair the social fabric after a conflict. The student may be asked to apologize to the offended party (e.g., teacher, student, principal) in writing or in person. It is important, though, that the offending student accept blame for the incident and demonstrate authentic regret in offering the apology, or neither party will be satisfied with the outcome.

Behavioral contract: The student and teacher hammer out a written agreement that outlines: specific positive behaviors that the student is to engage in (or specific negative behaviors that he or she is to avoid), the privileges or rewards that the student will earn for complying with the behavioral contract, and the terms by which the student is to earn the rewards (e.g., staying in his or her seat during independent reading period for three consecutive days).

Ignoring: When the student displays a problem behavior, the teacher 'ignores' the behavior (that is, the teacher does not give the student attention for the behavior).

Loss of privileges: The child is informed in advance that he or she can access a series of privileges (e.g., access to games to play, the opportunity to have 5 minutes of free time) if his or her behavior remains appropriate. The instructor instructs the student about what kind and intensity of problem behavior may result in the loss of privileges, and for how long. After this introductory phase, the instructor withdraws privileges as agreed upon whenever the student misbehaves.

Modeling (Vicarious Learning): While the target child is observing, the teacher gives specific public praise to children other than the target student when they show appropriate behaviors. When praising these behaviors, the teacher clearly describes the praiseworthy behaviors. When the target child 'imitates' the same or similar appropriate behaviors, the teacher immediately praises him or her.

Office referral: The instructor writes up a referral documenting the student's misbehavior and sends both the referral and student to the principal's office for intervention.

Over-correction: The student is required repetitively to practice a skill that will 'replace' or improve upon an inappropriate or problem behavior. For example, a student who wanders the halls without permission when taking an unsupervised bathroom break may have to stay after school one afternoon and take multiple 'practice' trips to the school bathroom. In this example, the instructor might accompany the student to monitor how promptly the student walked to, and returned from, the bathroom and to give the student feedback about how much this target behavior has improved.

Parent contact: The teacher calls, sends a note home to, or e-mails the student's parent(s) regarding the behavioral problems. The parent may be asked for advice on how the teacher can better reach and teach the child at school. The teacher may offer suggestions for appropriate parent involvement (e.g., "You may want to talk with your child about this incident, which we view as serious.").

Peer Consequences: If the teacher finds that classmates play (or could play) an important role in influencing a target child's behavior(s), the teacher may try to influence the target child's behaviors indirectly by providing consequences for selected peer behaviors.

For example, if classmates encourage the target student to make inappropriate comments by giving positive social attention (e.g., laughing), the teacher may start a group response-cost program and deduct points from the class total whenever a peer laughs at inappropriate comments. Or a teacher who wants to increase the social interactions that a socially isolated child has with her peers may reward selected peers with praise each time that they approach the isolated child in a positive manner.

Praise: When the student engages in a positive behavior that the teacher has selected to increase, the teacher praises the student for that behavior. Along with positive comments (e.g., "Great job!"), the praise statement should give specifics about the behavior the child demonstrated that is being singled our for praise (e.g., "You really kept your attention focused on me during that last question, even when kids around you were talking!").

Private approach to student: The instructor quietly approaches the student, points out the problem behavior and how it is interfering with classwork or interrupting instruction. The instructor reminds the student of the academic task in which he or she should be engaged. The student is given an opportunity to explain his or her actions. The student is politely offered the choice to improve behavior or accept a negative consequence. Privately approaching a student can help him or her to save face and reduce the likelihood that the student will become defensive or defiant.

Promise: The instructor approaches the misbehaving student and informs him or her that the student has behaved inappropriately. The teacher asks the student to state an appropriate alternative behavior that he or she should have followed. The teacher then requests that the student promise the instructor (verbally or in writing) that he or she will not engage in this misbehavior again.

Redirection: The teacher interrupts problem behavior by calling on the student to answer a question, assigning him or her a task to carry out, or otherwise refocusing the child's attention.

Reflective Essay: The student is required to write and submit to the teacher a brief composition after displaying behaviors. At minimum, the composition would state: (1) what problem behavior the student displayed, (2) how the student could have acted in an alternative, more acceptable manner, and (3) a promise from the student to show appropriate behaviors in similar situations in the future. NOTE: Some teachers use a pre-printed structured questionnaire containing these 3 items for the student to complete.

Reprimand: In the typical reprimand, the instructor approaches the student, states that the student is misbehaving, and instructs the student to stop the misbehavior immediately. Reprimands should be used sparingly, as students may become defiant if confronted by an angry teacher in a public manner. When used, reprimands should be kept short, to avoid arguments with the student.

Response Cost: Usually, response cost programs first award a student a certain number of tokens with no conditions attached. Throughout the monitoring period, the student has a token withdrawn whenever he or she displays a behavior that is inappropriate. (These behaviors would usually have been agreed upon in advance.) The student is permitted to 'cash in' any points that he or she still retains at the end of the monitoring period or may be allowed to 'bank' the points toward a future reward or privilege.

Restitution: The student engages in an activity that actually or symbolically restores the environment, setting, or social situation that his or her misbehavior had damaged. For example, a student who marks up a wall with graffiti may be required to work afterschool under supervision of custodial staff to wash the wall and removing the offending markings.

Rewarding alternative (positive) behaviors: The instructor calls on the student or provides other positive attention or incentives only during those times that the student is showing appropriate social and academic behaviors. The same positive attention or consequences are withheld during times when the student misbehaves or does not engage in academics.

Rules review: The teacher approaches the misbehaving student and (a) has him or her read off the posted class rules, (b) asks the student which of those rules his or her current behavior is violating, and (c) has the student state what positive behavior he or she will engage in instead.

Timeout/Detention/Inschool suspension: The student is removed from the classroom because of a behavioral infraction. In timeout, the student's exclusion from the classroom may be very short (3-5 minutes). With in-school suspension, the student may be removed from instruction for longer periods (e.g., half a day). Detention may require that the student spend time in a non-rewarding setting but that consequence may be deferred until after school to prevent loss of learning.