Ravesloot: As a student, I know school detentions don’t work. I have a better idea

The 1980s’ coming-of-age film ‘The Breakfast Club’ features a group of teens forced into boring early-morning detention. Today’s teens would be spending detention time on their phones surreptitiously.Article content

I’ve seen a lot of classmates get detention. Over and over. Do you know what happens during detention? Not much, that’s what.

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Kids pretend to do homework, but don’t. Kids also pretend they don’t use their phones, but do. They scroll TikTok and heart photos on Instagram. What lesson does that teach? Do wrong and take a load off. Not much of a punishment.

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You might be wondering what I propose.

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Have you looked out the window lately? Spring uncovered a whole lot of garbage. Maybe instead of detention, students could engage in positive community actions such as garbage cleanup rather than facing detention-as-usual.

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Detention is the typical punishment given if a student is disrupting the class or if they are tardy.

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But is it really effective? No, because it often does not address the problem in the first place. The only thing students think about during detention, while they are forced to sit in a chair, is how many minutes until they can leave.

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They don’t reflect on their actions; they twiddle their thumbs or stare at their screens. Detention can be perceived as a meaningless punishment, leading students to disengage and not learn from the experience.

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I have seen this first-hand.

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Instead of this unproductive consequence, we should get some good done for our community. The amount of garbage is piling up, even at the doorsteps of schools that say “We’re good citizens of the planet.” Yet, we have people sitting in a classroom who could help do some good. Why not use them?

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This wouldn’t just help the community; it would also benefit the students. Not only would it force them to get off their screens, it would also give them a greater sense of responsibility and environmental awareness, because they might be part of the problem in the first place.

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I understand that garbage cleanup is not what everyone will see as an effective way to distribute punishment, but by incorporating this into detentions, schools can foster a more environmentally conscious school environment.

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It has become evident that detention does not solve the underhanded behaviour from happening, so why not try a different approach? Doing the same thing over again and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity.

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Garbage cleanup could provide a more practical, and potentially meaningful consequence, allowing students to actively contribute to a cleaner and more positive school environment.