Students are assigned to detention hall at the request of a teacher or because they arrive at school after 8:15 a.m. Detention hall detains students one hour after regular school hours.
"Its purpose is to encourage students to come to school and behave themselves," comments Mr. William Thornton, teacher in charge of detention.
In the past, detention halls have been demolished and the reason can best be told by Mr. Roger Derthick, principal, "Detention broke down before because there were too many exceptions. There is no use having a detention if people are excused from attending." Mr. Derthick feels that this year the situation is different and that, "Detention has done a lot of good. It has cut down on 75% of the tardies. For the last twenty days there has been 94% of the student body present." Mr. Derthick also feels that the detention hall is run efficiently.
PROBLEMS ARISE
Although detention has ended a majority of the disciplinary and attendance
problems, many conflicts still arise. Harry Fifield, freshman, expresses
his views, "It's unfair to have to come back at 3:00 p.m. if you get
out an hour or two earlier." For many students this is a problem because
after dismissal they are required to leave the school grounds immediately.
This leaves them with no place to wait for the one or two hours before detention
begins. The problem can become more complex for a student who holds a job.
Another complication arises when teachers try to place students in detention
without a note from Mr. Derthick or Mr. Harold Miller, assistant principal.
This cannot be done. Mr. Derthick has emphasized the fact that teachers
must send the student to him or Mr. Miller before the final assignment to
detention is made.
Special postponements of detention can be made if the student is unable to attend. However, the student is required to make up the day. Mr. Miller tells of other advantage to detention, "The main reason detention is so good is that it does not keep the students out of class, so the pupil considers it a real hardship to stay after school."
Many feel that the policies of detention are bad. Rhona Captan, sophomore, states a common complaint, "It's ridiculous to go (to detention) unless it (the offense) is unexcusable." A majority of the people interviewed agree with her that a person should not have to stay one hour for being five minutes late. If a student is late with a legitimate excuse, he is still considered unexcused and must spend an afternoon in detention. Mr. Miller comments on this popular peeve, "Detention has cut the number of tardies greatly. Last year we'd run from one to two pages of tardies per day. This year we've run about one-half page each day."
CORRECTIONS OCCUR
When it comes to correcting disciplinary problems, the majority of those
interviewed felt that detention was good. Joe Lynch, freshman, said, "I
think those who cut classes should be in detention." Feelings regarding
the good points of detention are fairly congruent to those of Mrs. Helen
P. Taylor, English teacher, "It gets the few trouble makers out of
the way so that the rest of the students can get to the business for which
they are in school."
Those in charge of discipline feel that detention is a good way to encourage
students to make doctor appointments after school, to be punctual, and not
to skip classes.
STUDENTS BENEFIT
Stanley Scheinbaum, junior, comments from a psychological point of view,
"I am diametrically opposed (to detention) because detention does not
serve to rehabilitate the offender but, by its punitive action, serves as
a spur to further misdeeds'' Mr. Thornton feels that it must benefit the
students because, "Only about 5% of the students are constantly in
trouble. About 65% of the students study in detention and the others do
something at least to make me think they're studying."
One of the most provocative thoughts on detention was given by Mr. Miller, "Detention is not a cure-all but is like locks on doors to keep honest people out."