Is suspension really a punishment?

Post Reply New Topic

It's not really "punishment" if you enjoy it. For me telling me I was being "punished" by being suspended from school would be like an adult getting a bad review at their job and being told they were being "punished" by being sent on a free vacation.

I think that is why they gave me in school suspensions in this one school I was in. For me being allowed to stay home was a reward but I wasn't devious enough back then to do things bad enough to purposely get suspended. The in school suspension wasn't that bad either. As I remember it the kids in that room didn't really interact with each other and the teacher didn't care what you did to occupy yourself (such as schoolwork, reading, or sleeping) as long as you stayed in your seat and were quiet.

Detention wasn't something most of my schools could give me as my mother doesn't drive and some of the schools they sent me to were pretty far away so if I missed the bus they would have had to provide me transportation home or keep me overnight which they obviously couldn't.

I don't see how it's even a punishment. Reason why I didn't try to get myself suspended was because I knew I would be in trouble at home for my behavior at school so I behaved there. I didn't want to lose any privileges is why and I hated being punished. I can see how it's a punishment in adulthood and perhaps high school too. I just never understood it, I never understood ISS either. I only had it once and it did work because I almost missed my school play over it and you were not allowed to do any school activities like sports or after school programs and I was very lucky it didn't last till my play or after or else I would have not been able to perform in it. So I then understood how it's a punishment. Plus you were not allowed to sleep or walk around. No game boys were allowed either nor head phones and you had to read a book if you had no work to do.

I've always wondered if suspension is good policy, even when I was in school. Suspension from school means that the school cannot act in loco parentis, and therefor control the student's time. There are plenty of things a suspended student could do with his time. Perhaps s/he could play mindless video games, or hang out with friends who do drugs, or worse. In cities with a serious youth crime problem, suspension can be a very bad idea indeed, no matter the grade level.

I mean, in elementary school, suspension just means that you get to miss school--not exactly a punishment. But in middle school or high school, you have to make up the missing work.