The Pros And Cons Of Detention

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Imagine it was the first day after transferring to a new school and you already got into a fight with someone you didn’t know. This scary fifth grade kid pushed you, so you pushed him back. At your old school, it would have ended with a detention for you. But at your new school, detentions don’t exist. In the article, “Instead of detention, these students get meditation” by Deborah Bloom from CNN.com, students at Robert W. Coleman Elementary who act out or need a place to destress go to a special room where they can vent and cool down. It wasn’t always this way at Coleman Elementary. Bloom explains in paragraph 6 that, in this area of Baltimore, Maryland, many of the students come from difficult lives. A quarter of the residents live below the poverty line and 80% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch (1). Coming from a neighborhood like that, students might encounter a lot of stress. Detentions could potentially make them even more anxious and troubled. To combat this problem, Coleman Elementary chose a new path. In paragraph …show more content…

Meditation rooms at Coleman Elementary have been successful in decreasing the amount of discipline issues. Not only does Coleman use the meditation room, but they’ve begun doing mindful meditation over the intercom to begin and end the school day (2). Before, detention produced a lot of stress on kids who already have stressful home lives. This stress often seeps into their school day, causing them to act out. Meditation gives them the opportunity to take a few moments to just breathe. According to the article, Tamar Mendelson states, "When we sit with pain or discomfort rather than act on it, we learn that feelings and sensations come and go. We don't necessarily need to act on them all. We have a chance to pause and make a thoughtful choice about how to respond" (2). Her opinion shows that detention is a flawed way to deal with discipline in a school

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