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This article deals with the practice of "detention" as a punishment for students. For information on Immigration detention, please see the article under that name.

In middle school and high school, detention very specifically refers to a period after the end of the school day (sometimes, before the school day) or during the weekend, when students who have misbehaved must remain in a designated classroom for a certain time period as punishment for their misbehavior. Usually, the infraction is relatively minor, and includes such offenses as talking in class out of turn or repeated tardiness.

Generally, detention is carried out in a room that offers no amenities, so that students serving detention will have no outlet to distract them from their punishment. The students are usually monitored by a teacher, and may be required to either bring homework, sit quietly or perform some punitive task (e.g., clapping blackboard erasers, writing an essay, or repeatedly writing some admonishment on the blackboard).

Detentions are also used at the elementary school level, which often is a period after the end of the school day, or partial or complete loss of recess privileges. The format is otherwise similar to middle and high school detentions.

Some schools have "Saturday suspensions," which is essentially a detention served on a Saturday at a designated site (usually, a school classroom). Usually, schools have policies which outline when a student is given such a punishment, but the format is essentially similar to a traditional detention.

Detention is usually the mildest form of punishment available to administrators, followed in severity by suspension and expulsion. Concerns have been raised about the fact that detentions are generally given without the order of a court, and are quite often given by the alleged victim. Appeals procedures are questionable, and in the UK cannot overturn a detention before it has been served. They are considered by many to be incompatible with the right to freedom of movement, the right to due procees and fair trial and the right to freedom from discrimination.

Pop culture references

There are numerous pop culture references to the practice of detention. For example, the opening credits to "The Simpsons" shows Bart Simpson in detention, repeatedly writing some ironic phrase along the lines of "I will not instigate revolution", "I do not have diplomatic immunity", or "I will not waste chalk".

"Detention" was also the name of an animated series that had a brief run on the WB in 1999 and 2000.[1] The series portrayed a group of misfit middle-schoolers who were constantly in detention, and scheming to overcome the obstacles that said condition presented.

The movie "The Breakfast Club" revolves around five disparate students bonding during a day in detention. The movie Some Kind of Wonderful features a significant detention twist - a student intentionally misbehaves in order to be put in detention with the girl of his dreams - but later learns that she has managed to talk her way out of the punishment. However, the student ends up befriending the dangerous-looking derelicts who are regularly on detention, and they ultimately help him out in his moment of greatest need.

In Hogwarts school in Harry Potter books, detention is practiced as a disciplinary measure. Ironically, when in book one Harry Potter and two other students are caught wandering in the castle at night (which is considered dangerous), for "detention" they are sent, also at night, to the even more dangerous Forbidden Forest.

Other forms of detention

Detention generally refers to the authorities (especially a police force - see arrest) holding a person, either for questioning, as punishment for a wrong, or as a precautionary measure while investigating a potential threat posed by that person. The term can also be used in reference to the holding of property, for the same reasons.

Any form of imprisonment can be called detention, although the term is associated with persons who are being held temporarily without having been charged with a crime. For example, the alleged Taliban supporters captured in the 2001 United States invasion of Afghanistan have never been classified as "prisoners" by the U.S. government, but have consistently been referred to as "detainees", suggesting that they are only being held temporarily while their status is investigated.

For a protracted discussion about the length of time a suspected terrorist may legally be detained in the United Kingdom without charge, see Terrorism Bill 2005.

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