More and more, I’ve noticed that students are frequently threatened with and disciplined by lunch detention. Of course, students deserve consequences for unacceptable behavior and poor choices, but making a student spend their lunchtime in a classroom feels unnecessarily harsh.
Imagine this were your own child. They go to school one day, come home hungry and upset. You ask them what’s wrong, and they explain that they had lunch detention, which took away their time to eat and take a break. Wouldn’t that upset you as a parent, knowing the school is punishing your child in such an ineffective way?
I asked students around the school for their opinions on lunch detention and whether they think it’s an efficient form of discipline. Seventh-grader Charlie Frink says, “I disagree with lunch detentions because lunchtime is our only long period to socialize. From personal experience, when you have to sit and be quiet during your lunch, you tend to have more energy and want to talk during other classes.”
As someone who requires socialization to stay content at school, I find lunch detention to be an insufferable method of discipline. Students often work hard before lunch and need a break from academic thinking. Interacting with friends and peers is crucial for a teenager’s mental health and helps us stay calm and focused, even with all the work we have. Taking that opportunity away by assigning lunch detention just leaves students feeling more stressed, upset, and possibly anxious when they return to class.
Some might argue that lunch detention is the only time teachers can hold detentions, but that’s not true. Most teachers stay after school for hours and have plenty of time for after-school detentions, which typically only take about 30 minutes, if that. Taking away lunch is unnecessary and, frankly, harmful.
I think we can all agree that lunch detention is an undesirable practice that should not continue. There are plenty of other forms of discipline that could be more effective and less damaging to students’ well-being.
