‘Detention’ - whats it all about?
Posted by Volaer@reddit | AskAnAmerican | View on Reddit | 95 comments
Is it a common punishment in US schools or mostly a movie thing? How does it work in practice? How do kids get home? Are their parents to pick them up? Is it basically a way of creating a space for kids to do homework?
ketamineburner@reddit
I think its pretty common
Every school is different, but usually it means they have to stay after school or come in on the weekend (this was called Saturday school at my high school)
That's their problem. I had detention one time and Saturday school one time, and was responsible for getting there, nobody cared how I got home.
No, at least not where I went to school.
Not at my school. Homework wasn't allowed. When I had detention, we had to clean the classroom and parts of the school. When I had Saturday school, books and pens were not allowed.
Bratty_Bunny99@reddit
My school only did detention for lunch breaks. I think it's pretty rare today for school to hold kids for detention afterschool and the only purpose of the punishment was to basically get your parents involved in whatever you did wrong simce they had to come pick up their child themsleves and could talk to the teacher but these days there isn't always a parent available to pick up their kid at 3pm. Our economy is so bad both parents are at work, or it's a single parent and they are also relying on the bus to take their kid home for them because they're at work. So, instead if we pissed off the wrong teacher we had to awkwardly eat lunch with them in a very quiet room no one was allowed to talk in. Not me tho, i was an angel 😇
RickMoneyRS@reddit
I was in high school from 2008-2012, and we didn't have after school detention, but we did have two other similar things.
One was called In School Suspension. It functioned basically the same as what you think of as detention. You're sent to a special room to sit in silently and are expected to catch up on any unfinished homework, or just given some sort of nothing busy work like copying lines and such, and after a while you might be allowed to read or just sit there and do nothing. Depending on the severity of your offense, you may be sent there for the remainder of the school day, you may get an entire school day scheduled in advance, or maybe even multiple days.
Repeat offenders may get what was called Saturday School, which was the exact same thing except you had to come in on a Saturday for it.
Zaidswith@reddit
I graduated nearly 20 years ago. In the early grades k-8 we just got put in silent lunch for getting in trouble. It meant you sat at a lunch table with whatever poor teacher drew the short straw that day to supervise and you just sat there silently until lunch was over.
In high school we had morning detention. It was typically earned by being late to class or from other minor infractions. You had to be to school early and the responsibility of that was on you. Mostly you could do whatever you want if it wasn't noticeable. The idea was to be present on time.
If you were late to that or had chronic time problems or did something they thought needed address you'd end up in what we called Saturday Work Detail. Think the detention from the Breakfast Club where all the kids were dropped off by their parents on a weekend, but instead of sitting in a library you got to scrape gum off bleachers or pick up trash in the parking lot. Menial stuff.
If you got enough of those or were in more serious trouble you'd end up in ISS (in school suspension). You reported there for the entire day where you sat in a cubicle and did busy work your teaches sent. This meant you also couldn't participate in any sort of extracurricular activities.
The next step was OSS (out of school suspension) for pretty serious behavior issues.
Last was expulsion. The kinds of things kids get expelled for everywhere.
TL;DR: We had several variations and none of them meant you left school late. There was never a liability of holding kids longer than the school day, but sometimes they'd require you to get yourself there out of normal hours.
Current_Poster@reddit
It was, when I was going at least. I don't know how they do it now- but you have to remember that most media about high school are either what the (adult) creators remember about high school, wish high school was like, or are just plain off-the-rails stuff nobody experienced.
Anyway: I walked home or got picked up by a parent. It's definitely meant to be punitive. I had one asshole who intentionally prohibited you from doing homework, saying it wasn't a study hall.
LoverlyRails@reddit
When I was in school, detention was definitely a thing. If you were younger (like middle school) you would have to get your parents to pick you up. By high school, you could drive yourself home (if you had a car).
But you would be assigned a day (usually 2 or 3 days later from when you got in trouble). It wasn't immediate.
Some schools did not allow you to do homework in detention because it was a place for punishment (so if you could just sit there and quietly do your homework- that was seen as not being punishing enough.)
But sometimes teachers would pretend to not see it (maybe they didn't care. Or maybe they didn't agree with the system)
ISS (in school suspension) was also a thing.
Now- I don't think detention even exists. (But they do have the ability to remove you from class-) and my kids district has "seat time"
The district only allows 5 absences (not counting certain things like medical)- if the student misses more than that the family has to pay money and have them come in on a Saturday to sit all day for seat time (to make up the absence). It's bullshit imo.
mamba0714@reddit
I'm sorry--"the family has to pay money"--WHAT
The late stage capitalism in this country is getting out of hand
LoverlyRails@reddit
Yeah- and the fees can really add up.
"A 3-hour STR session costs $10.00 and equals two class periods. A 6-Hour STR session costs $20.00 and equals four class periods."
mamba0714@reddit
Any idea what they do with the funds?
LoverlyRails@reddit
No clue
mamba0714@reddit
That is vile
Smokinsumsweet@reddit
I had permanent detention in high school, so every single day I had to report to detention after school, and then take the late bus home at like 5:00 p.m.
Weightmonster@reddit
how did you manage that?
Smokinsumsweet@reddit
I wish I could remember! I had a hard time obeying rules that didn't make sense to me. Like, I smoked cigarettes in high school but I didn't want to smoke in the bathroom because I knew that was wrong. So I would go outside into the parking lot, but we weren't technically allowed to leave the building during school hours. So I would get suspended with Saturday school, and maybe skip and not go to Saturday school. Then they would give me another Saturday school with detention for an entire week. I would go to some of them but then skip a couple and they would decide that I should have Saturday school for the rest of the year. Then I would start skipping the Saturday schools and they would say fine you have detention every single day. I think it was easier to keep us for detention when we were already at school then try to get us to report to school on Saturday for extra detention LOL. Felt like I hadn't really done anything that wrong to begin with, so I would skip some of the punishments and make them worse for myself. I ultimately dropped out of high school at the end of my sophomore year and just got my GED because the whole school system was just not navigable to me LOL
carp_boy@reddit
Late 70's detention was definitely a thing. It was a rite of passage. Next level to were suspensions, usually 1-3 days. They were viewed as a vacation from school.
Then some sadist came up with the "in school suspension". Those were the pits.
retardedanddrunk@reddit
ISS was hell got put in there a fair share of times, once I got sentenced to5 days of ISS so I bargained for 3 days out of school instead and got my wish. Got a long weekend pretty much, Played Xbox and drank 6 nights in a row with one of my brother’s who was on leave from the Navy.
indiefolkfan@reddit
I enjoyed in school suspensions. More often than not I just had to sit in the office in a much comfier chair and read a book all day. Funnily enough I got in trouble on more than one occasion for reading a book in class where I was then sent to the principals office just to sit there and read a book.
00zau@reddit
Yeah, I had ISS once and my teachers just sent me a packet with all my classwork for the day. The teacher supervising ISS didn't give a shit, so I had an open book test, finished everything before lunch, then read a book for the rest of the day.
indiefolkfan@reddit
The real trick was making sure my parents didn't find out. Though this was when the main method of communication was a message on the answering machine and maybe a letter home. If I could get home before my parents and delete the message off the machine then I was home free.
MelodyMaster5656@reddit
I feel like if someone thought of suspension as a vacation, they must have had either pretty lax parents, or both parents couldn’t be at home all day.
00zau@reddit
Yeah, that's the problem. If your parents don't care, suspension isn't a punishment.
DeathToTheFalseGods@reddit
Yes it’s a real thing. Pretty common. I’m not sure what you are asking by how it works. You stay the extra time that your punishment says. Usually it’s 1 hr. We didn’t have buses. No it isn’t a way to create a space for kids to do their homework. It’s a punishment for bad behavior.
0rangeMarmalade@reddit
My high school and Jr high school (grades 7-12) had lunch detention, after school detention, and Saturday detention. Elementary and middle school only had lunch detention (k-6). This was in the 90s and early 2000s.
Lunch detention was mostly for younger kids or students that had jobs and wouldn't be able to do after school or Saturday morning.
Typically something minor like making your teacher mad just got you a lunch detention or two. During lunch detention you were given a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, milk, and carrot/celery sticks. You weren't allowed to talk to anyone or do anything other than sit and stare at the wall in silence. To be fair, I'm introverted and preferred the food over normal school lunch, so I loved lunch detention.
Getting in trouble for breaking rules like dress code got you after school detention. This usually took place right after school in a classroom or a lunch room. You weren't allowed to talk and you could either do homework or read. There was no extra transportation home provided so you either walked home or have a parent pick you up. If a parent couldn't get you until after work you had to just wait outside. There was usually a group of people waiting for their parents.
Getting caught skipping class or detention got you a Saturday detention. This happened Saturday morning at 8am (regular school start time was 7:15am for me) and functioned the same way after school detention did.
Getting in a fight got you suspended for a few days up to a week. Your parents had to pick you up from school, meet with the principal, sign a paper, and you were not allowed back at school, including any school events like sports games or dances, for whatever time length the school decided was fair. You were expected to make up any work you missed once you came back.
KaBar42@reddit
My school did detention. But of course, they had to make it more Catholic and called them "JuGs". Justice under God.
I love my old school, but come on guys, that's just cringe. Just call it a detention.
Anyway, they had two different versions.
If you got a "JuG" because you were being an ass, it was an hour long. If you got a JuG related to tardiness, it was 30 minutes. In my freshman year, it was three tarries for one late JuG. And then at some point, they changed it so one tardy would result in one late JuG. Supposedly, they changed it because the seniors were abusing the three strike system and... somehow making it so that any tarries would result in a JuG was going to discourage them just skipping class in their cars if they were late to begin with? I have no idea.
I believe they also had Saturday JuGs. I never got any of these, so I don't know the specifics of what they would do besides what I heard. Depending on who was supervising that day, it might just be sitting in silence but being allowed to do your work or copying a bunch of lines down.
One thing I never got clarification on was one supervisor. He would have pencils sharpened down as short as they would go. It was never made clear to me if he required the JuG students to use those pencils no matter what or if it was only if someone needed to borrow a writing utensil.
mamba0714@reddit
As a born-and-raised Catholic, and a graduate of a Catholic university, the jargon is HILARIOUS
SGDFish@reddit
Similar experience, although ours was "penance hall." We served ours during lunch, and you were expected to sit in your seat with hands flat on the desk for half an hour in silence. It was actually kinda zen lol
We also had a Saturday version if you racked up too many, but that just involved helping the custodial staff and grounds crew. Basically you got to mow the school's lawn
mamba0714@reddit
Lol. "Got to"
Courwes@reddit
I’ve been out of school for 18 years so my experience is a bit dated but I had detention a few times and yes it was after school. This was high school so either your parents picked you up or you drove home yourself afterwards. There was also once I had Saturday detention and I for the life of me cannot remember why but i had to come back the day after the last day school ended for the year. I ended up just helping a teacher clean out their classroom.
We also had in school suspension (ISS) though I never had that. Essentially kids in ISS were isolated into a singular classroom and could not have normal interactions with other students. They stayed in that class all day long and just did their regular coursework. I don’t believe they got any actual instruction on their workload (the students were mixed between grades and courses so you can’t actually teach in that setting). So they were left to learn the lessons on their own.
Trimyr@reddit
That is simultaneously heartwarming and heartbreaking.
mamba0714@reddit
Succinct.
royalhawk345@reddit
My school had late busses at like 6 or 7 for all the kids who stayed late. Mostly for sports or clubs, but also studying or detention.
Volaer@reddit (OP)
That makes sense. I forgot about your system of school buses independent from regular public transport.
JimBones31@reddit
Where you live, how do students get home without their parents if they live miles away from school and they aren't in the city?
Volaer@reddit (OP)
Our public transport system is dense and covers the countryside as well.
But also, every village that has more than 1000 people will have an elementary school. So its not like they have to travel to a far-away city. Its usually just around 10 minutes by bus to the nearest school.
JimBones31@reddit
That's wild to me. There are so many small towns spread out here.
What about highschool? My wife had a very short commute to an elementary school as a kid but then the bus took her to highschool 20 miles.
macoafi@reddit
Their countryside is probably more like what we'd call exurbs.
Volaer@reddit (OP)
Haha, I guess so. I live in the Czech Republic where only a minority live in large cities and the country consist mainly of close villages surrounded by woods and small rivers with the occasional ruined castle/tower. Not unlike the Shire in LOTR lol. I live in such a village myself.
mamba0714@reddit
Off topic, but I can't help myself!:
I've been to roughly a dozen countries in Europe, and, despite being there in early March, AND suffering two simultaneous daylight savings adjustments (LOL), the time I spent in the Czech Republic was easily one of the absolute best experiences I've ever had.
Prague was unbelievable and unforgettable, and the Czech people were equally delightful.
Without a doubt one of the most underrated travel destinations! You all have a treasure there in your little neck of the world ♥️
macoafi@reddit
We have small towns, but we also have “along this kilometer of roadway, you’ll encounter 1-3 farms.”
JimBones31@reddit
I could totally see that.
Volaer@reddit (OP)
Wow thats a lot. The High School I went to was only 8km away (so about 5 miles). A HS friend of mine lived in a different town (about 9,5 miles) and had to take the train.
JimBones31@reddit
It is definitely a lot. Mine was a lot closer. Only 7 miles.
dtb1987@reddit
What country do you live in?
Lugbor@reddit
I think that's the biggest difference here. People are so spread out, especially in farming communities, that it's not really feasible to run any sort of public transportation for them. It's a half an hour to the nearest city for me, and there aren't enough people nearby for them to bother running a bus line this far out. People would have to drive to the bus stop and wait when they could just drive to the city and get what they need.
royalhawk345@reddit
Students at urban schools (or even suburban, like mine was) also take public transit.
BankManager69420@reddit
Yeah. My city gave all the students public transit passes. It was actually pretty cool because we learned young how to navigate a large city.
therealdrewder@reddit
Out of curiosity. Would you really trust a 5 year old to take public transportation to school?
Volaer@reddit (OP)
No, but in my country kids only start going to school at age 6-7 and are usually taken to school by their parents for the first year or two. But we do not have school buses at all.
Lemon_head_guy@reddit
Ahh, see I started school at 5 and I was lucky to have a mom who had the time to take me to school, plenty of kids parents don’t have the time to pick up/drop off kids because work
shelwood46@reddit
We didn't really have detention in grade school, you might not get to go outside for recess/after lunch if you'd been acting up. From 7th grade on (age 12-13) detention was an hour after school. When I transferred to a private boarding school, there was no detention, but we had two kinds of trouble: academic probation, if your grades were shit, for which you got mandated study hours in the library, and social probation, for acting up (mostly sneaking out after curfew and getting wasted in the woods), for which you had to do a proscribed number of work hours in the school community, cleaning, filing, garden work, etc. Three strikes and you were expelled.
punkfairy420@reddit
By the time I was getting detention in high school I could drive, so it didn’t matter. I just drove myself to and from school. We had the option of morning detention from 6am-6:55am (ended 5 min before first period) or after school for an hour.
The first few offenses I just did my homework but I would get detention often for being tardy to school or my skirt length (catholic school 🙄🙄). After repeated offenses I had to write lines until detention was over, which was pointless. You know, “I will not wear my skirt past my fingertips” over and over, a la Bart Simpson. At the end of detention we turned them in. I’m sure they just trashed it after I left.
Inspi@reddit
90s it was definitely a thing, but my school did it 2x a week so you could go to whichever session fit best. I think they were 60 minutes. You could even wait a week or two and then catch up as long as they were done in the same quarter (we had 4 quarters instead of 2 semesters).
Idea was to inconvenience the kid by making them stay at school longer than they wanted, and get some homework done where they could ask a teacher for help too. Bonus points if it annoyed the parent, their punishment of the kid was probably going to be harsher.
Never had it myself, we had a system where you were issued "demerits" and every 5 equaled a detention. I knew when to shut up and obey the teacher once I got to 4 lol. Was a real trick to do sometimes lol.
We didn't have busses, small poor private school, so they tried to accommodate kids needing rides from parents or whomever with the flexibility.
UCFknight2016@reddit
parents have to pick you up. Its a shitty punishment since you cant talk and have to stare at a clock for an hour or two.
va2wv2va@reddit
Detention at my school occurred during the school day (in most cases). You’d have to go to a different room and do your work there, not going to classes like you normally would. There was some after-school detention, but that was typically for egregious offenses. I think I had to do it once. There was no arranging of rides, we had to figure all that out ourselves with our families as they would send us home with a slip to be signed by our parents.
Ozone220@reddit
Doesn't happen at all in my school, but it could easily be one of those things where it was a thing in the 90s or prior. We do have ISS (in-school suspension), where I believe you sit in a room with a teacher and without electronic devices and have to do your work. Basically detention but during school hours
quixoft@reddit
My mom made me walk home when I got detention. Only 6 miles though and along a creek and green belt so it wasn't really a punishment.
noperopehope@reddit
From my experience in public school up until 2015, there were really only lunchtime detentions and suspensions. I went to school in an area with lots of low income students, so I think that may have been a purposeful choice by my county to avoid burdening low income families with having to figure out how to get their kids home.
dtb1987@reddit
I had detention a few times in highschool, normally because I broke some small rule. You were told to do whatever homework you had and if you didn't have any (which is unlikely) or you finished it before detention was over you had to sit quietly until it was time to go. Most people either had their friends or family pick them up after but I only lived a couple miles from school and I didn't mind walking so I just walked home. I don't know that it ever stopped people from getting into trouble but it was generally inconvenient and it ate into your personal free time so there was incentive not to get it
rawbface@reddit
It's a real thing. You can get written up for bad behavior and have to go to detention. You don't have to do your homework, but you do have to sit there and be quiet. There are late buses - the school buses that take kids home from afterschool clubs would also take home the kids who had after school detention.
thelordstrum@reddit
I've been in detention a few times, but for me it was always lunch detention. Get thrown in a room for the 40 minutes or whatever the period lasted, and then leave. I don't know if we had any after-school detention (pretty sure we didn't have any Breakfast Club type detention). We did have an all-day type thing, but that was classified as a suspension (ISS).
manhattanabe@reddit
I got detention a lot. In the 80s, middle school. We mostly sat around and talked for an hour. If the persons watching was strict, I’d read a book. Basically, I walked home later. We weren’t bussed.
Meowmeowmeow31@reddit
It is a common punishment, but in my area, afterschool and Saturday detentions are WAY less common than they were 20 years ago, unfortunately. At the schools where I worked, lunch detentions were common but not other kinds. It’s a combination of cost (overtime pay for the teachers supervising detention), school administrators not wanting to do that part of their jobs, and pressure on administrators to make discipline stats look better.
liberties@reddit
I know of 2 Catholic high schools that still have detention.
It is called JUG (Justice under God) and is basically an additional class period at the end of the school day. Students are not allowed to do homework, they have to hand copy the norms of conduct (because clearly you forgot them).
The punishment is just wasting your time. If you could do homework that would almost be helpful like an additional silent study hall.
Long ago I also got a Saturday detention which was the same amount of time as a regular school day. We were given physical tasks around the school - scrubbing the kitchen, weeding flowerbeds... stuff like that. It wasn't that bad, but the punishment was really just wasting a Saturday.
jastay3@reddit
It was a punishment at my school but I don't remember much about it.
manicpixidreamgirl04@reddit
In my middle school, detention was just sitting at a different table at lunch where we weren't supposed to talk.
In high school we had regular detention (they called it afterschool study hall), and kids would be able to call/text their parents to pick them up later than usual. Or if they took public transportation, they'd just catch a later bus/subway. We didn't have a school bus.
Adept_Thanks_6993@reddit
Teacher here,
I don't actually know if after-school detention is a thing anymore. At any rate, I've never seen it actually assigned. I think in that case they would just suspend the student. I have assigned and monitored things like lunch or recess detention, where they don't get to enjoy a break with the rest of the class.
Volaer@reddit (OP)
Interesting, I suspected thats its mostly a movie thing. I would be surprised if parents were ok with having to drive to school to pick up their kid because he or she misbehaved.
anneofgraygardens@reddit
I 100% got detention in high school. I was a good kid, but not a punctual one - all of my detentions were for being late to class. We'd just sit there quietly for an hour (?). You could do homework or read, just no talking.
I walked to and from school so this wasn't an issue. I'm not sure my parents even knew about it because I was busy with lots of after school activities, they wouldn't have always expected me home right away anyway.
this was in the 90s.
indiefolkfan@reddit
I graduated in 2017. At least when I was in school it was certainly still a thing.
Trimyr@reddit
I was suspended for a couple days about 30 years ago. Even then, detention wasn't really a thing. I think it's more a John Hughes movie holdover from the early 80's. More a trope about the adult doesn't want to be there any more than the students.
signedupfornightmode@reddit
Detention was absolutely still a thing in the 2000s. I don’t remember it being around when I was subbing about 10 years ago, but I’m in a fairly progressive school district now and also did not have to deal with things like that. If a student misbehaved I’d either write it down for the teacher to deal with or call security if I felt things were getting out of hand.
ReasonLast9206@reddit
After school suspension was very much a real thing when I was growing up. It is punishment, usually for something like talking back to the teacher or smoking in the bathroom. It was meant to keep you from being able to hang out your friends after school. And yes, part of the punishment was that you would have to call your parents and explain that they's need to pick you up later and then you'd be in trouble with your parents too.
TheBimpo@reddit
They generally weren't "ok" with it, but the responsibility was placed on the child who earned the punishment...not the administration for doling it out. When I got detention, I'd later get punished at home for acting up and being put in detention. Consequences and accountability were a thing a generation ago, I don't really see it now.
MyUsername2459@reddit
It may have been more of a thing in the past.
I got detention once in High School for something petty. It meant having to stay a few hours after school one day and sit in silence in a room with other students, with nothing to do but study and work on homework.
ChuushaHime@reddit
After-school detention was definitely a thing in the 2000s. I had it a handful of times, in both a regular public school and a magnet public school. I don't remember what I did to get it, but being suspended (both in-school suspension and regular suspension) was for much more severe infractions than detention was, and was the source of much gossip--but no one really cared if you got detention (except your parents, who had to come late to pick you up).
Detention was pretty chill actually, I mostly just did homework but you could read comic books or draw if you wanted to. As long as you were silent and sat still and didn't have any electronics, you could kinda just do what you wanted.
cdb03b@reddit
Detention is an early stage punishment. In School Suspension(ISS) removes a problematic child from their class and puts them in a controlled space making it so that they are no longer disturbing/distracting fellow students, have direct one on one attention with a teacher or teacher's aid, and can hopefully focus on work that they have been missing and resolve whatever issues caused them to be removed from the class.
After school suspension is a punishment similar only it is after school. This is intended to disrupt the students plans as punishment, prevent them from doing after school activities, etc. This can be one on one like ISS or it could be students in a group. Some schools will have a late bus for kids in sports and clubs that would be available for those in detention, others would require parents to come get them (which is a function of the punishment in a lot of cases).
LineRex@reddit
Detention is a method for getting kids out of a chaotic environment so that resources can be given to them. Is the kid acting up? Something is probably wrong with their home life or they're having some kind of episode. Getting them into detention creates a temporary space to talk to and assess them. Usually, the first steps of getting regular meetings with the school counselor will happen at detention.
Detention has largely been moved to a lunchtime block instead of an after-school block for a few reasons. If there is a problem with the home life, holding a student afterward can exacerbate the problem with the parents. It has a very negative connotation so abusive parents are likely to lose their shit over it. Most schools don't have enough bus drivers to get all the kids home that need to get home so they don't have the resources for late routes like they used to. So this disruption in a potentially abusive parents life (having to pick their kid up later) is another potential trigger.
Sadly, in a lot of areas detention is basically kid jail. Kid acts up, kid goes to detention, kid doesn't receive resources, kid only interacts with other kids acting up. A combination of attacks on school funding and an addiction to the carceral state.
baalroo@reddit
It's basically a way to punish a kid's parents by making the parent have to take off work or stop what they are doing to come pick the child up at an awkward time, assumingly so that the parent is then made upset with the child and punished them at home.
When they're there they mostly just sit around and do nothing for however long the detention is, but sometimes they have to write a paper or clean things.
qu33nof5pad35@reddit
I had detention for being late too many times. It’s kinda like a “time out”… and I took public transportation home.
goblin_hipster@reddit
I got detention once in middle school. I just had to quietly eat my lunch in a classroom; they didn't keep me after school.
IrianJaya@reddit
Our detention was just a room with a teacher or vice-principal and the students had to sit quietly and do their homework or read a book. They couldn't talk or interact with anyone else, and desks were spaced far apart. Sometimes if two friends were there, the teacher would make them face their desks in opposite directions so they couldn't see each other. If a student failed to bring homework or a book, they had to copy pages of the dictionary which I can assure you is no fun.
As for getting home, starting in middle school we would have an activity bus that left at 5pm which took all the students staying late for sports, clubs, band practice, play practice, students doing library research, and of course people who had detention. By the time we were in high school many of us had cars so that became a much better option and you didn't have to face all your classmates who knew why you were there.
Apocalyptic0n3@reddit
I was in high school in the 00s. We did not have after-school detention, largely due to the issue of "how do the kids get home?" Instead, you'd lose your lunch or have to spend your gym period writing lines. Most often, it just turned into an in-school suspension where you spend an entire day in the school's counseling office.
It was definitely a thing previously, though. I've heard the stories from my dad and there was a room at our high school that was previously used for it (still had a plaque labeled "Detention Room")
CupBeEmpty@reddit
At my high school parents were responsible for getting their kids to and from school or the kids themselves could drive once they were 15 and had a learners permit.
If you got detention you had to stay an hour after school and work with the janitors to mop the cafeteria, clean off chalk boards, vacuum classrooms, or do yard work outside.
I had the additional benefit of being late to getting to crew practice so after doing an hour of work I’d show up late to crew and get smoked by my coach by having to do trail running or pushups/sit ups/burpees while everyone else got to row out on the water.
fenixsplash@reddit
My school didn't have a late bus so the one time I got detention I had to call my mom to pick me up and she was PISSED that the school made it a same day punishment and not the next day.
IceFireHawk@reddit
I’ve only had in school detention. Basically had to sit in a room and eat lunch, that’s about it. We had after school detention but it was rarely given. Only if you did something really bad but not bad enough to be suspended.
Nightmare_Gerbil@reddit
I had detention once in high school. It was a couple of hours in a classroom after school with a teacher and all the other students who got detention that day. We weren’t allowed to do anything but sit and stare straight ahead. No talking, no reading, no homework, no doodling. Those of us who rode the school buses had to find another way home. I ended up walking home ~5 miles in the rain on a two-lane road with no shoulder and no sidewalks. I had to jump into the flooded bar ditch several times to avoid being run over. I made sure never to get detention again.
_pamelab@reddit
My high school didn’t do after school detentions, ours were Saturday mornings. It gave kids days to sort out transportation if they didn’t drive themselves. Sort of like The Breakfast Club, but with way more kids and actual supervision. It was just sitting in the study hall room for 3-4 hours, no sleeping, being quiet; do homework or read. I never got one, but as an adult it sounds great. Uninterrupted reading time? Yes please!
booktrovert@reddit
We had after school detention for an hour, or Saturday detention for 3 hours for bigger offenses. Basically we sat in a room being silent. We could read or do homework. Study hall as a punishment. It was the parents' responsibility to pick you up. A lot of times they would give you after school for the following day to give your parents time to make arrangements.
My children's schools don't do detention anymore.
Aezaellex@reddit
I never had detention in high school as by that point it was only a disciplinary thing, but in my middle school y got detention if you missed any homework. It was 30 minutes after school with that teacher so you could finish the homework then, or if you missed that detention it was 1 hour in the annex (detached buildings from the school, kinda like big sheds honestly) with the dedicated ISS staff. If it was for disciplinary reasons I believe it was always 1 hour in the ISS annex, but I never did anything to warrant that.
Fancy-Primary-2070@reddit
Detention isn't a thing anymore because schools are so far away. My kids ride to school is 9 miles and the bus stop is an extra mile away. For him to get detention in winter would mean a 3 hour walk home, in the dark without street lights or a sidewalk.
Teachers just don't do it anymore.
Winnipesaukee@reddit
I personally never got detention in high school, but it often was the first line of discipline you would receive. The first level was an after school detention, then Saturday detention, and then in-school suspension. And if any of those weren’t enough, you could get up to seven days out-of-school suspension. Anything after a cumulative seven days of that the process for expulsion began.
And an additional thing to spice this up was your time and date for all of those were set by the school. They would send someone to the classes and pull you out to tell you when you will be serving your time.
Diabolik900@reddit
I had detention a handful of times in both middle school and high school.
The key to the “how did I get home” point is that, unlike the movies, it never took place on the same day it was assigned. There was always a day or two to arrange transportation.
ElectionProper8172@reddit
I'm a teacher. We do have detention but not like the movies. If a student gets a a write up they can get lunch detention. They have to eat lunch in a room with someone watching them they aren't allowed to do anything but eat their lunch. If they keep getting write ups for behavior they get before or after school detention. Their parents are responsible for getting them to school early for that or pick them up after school. I'm not sure what happens if they don't show up.
Former_Situation_641@reddit
When I was in highschool in the mid 2000s they would give detention after school and if you missed that then you had Saturday detention and if you missed that then you were suspended
IfTheHouseBurnsDown@reddit
I graduated high school in 2007 so my experience may be outdated. I got detention a couple of times in high school. Both of them were “Saturday school” detention. We either had to have our parents drop us off or if we were of driving age we could drive ourselves. It was early Saturday morning and we went to a classroom and essentially did homework for a couple of hours while being supervised by a teacher. Honestly having to wake up early on a Saturday as a teenager was the worst part. The plus side was you got all your homework done without distractions