So, I was browsing around on CNN.com reading about the current school shooting and I found an article that discussed how the Manhattan School for Children were inforcing a new rule. It said "under the new rule at the Manhattan School for Children, parents who don't drop off their children by 8:25 a.m. have to pick up late slips from the principal's office and go to the auditorium to serve 20 minutes of detention with them."

How crazy is that? How would they MAKE parents do this? Does anyone else have any thoughts?

That's actually pretty cool. I think it makes the parents get involved with the school weither they want to or not, and with some parents that's what you have to do. Did the article say anything about parent complaints? I wonder if the accountability of parents in that school has gone up since they started enforcing that rule.

I agree with Jessica. I think that sounds funny. and ironic. I wonder if the Manhatten School for Children is a high school. I hope so, because i don't know if i agree with making kindergarteners serve detention for their parents being late, but the older they get, the more responsibility is placed on them. It would be funny to implement that in my high school, but i doubt it'd go over good with the families...

I also agree with the other girls. I think its totally unfair to punish some children for their PARENTS tardiness!!! The children until a certain age, are dependent on their parents. It IS the parents responsibility to make sure the children arrive on time! But on the other hand, you know some parents are very upset! I guess its an incentive to get your child to school on time!

Okay, I can't believe this. I mean, it's one thing to control the students in schools, but to try to have some sort of control over parents is ridiculous. I can only imagine what would happen if a school tried to make me sit for 20 minutes if I were late dropping off my kid. What if we'd just had a bad morning, or one other child was sick. Things happen! I just think it's over stepping boundaries, and I don't think it would work very smoothly. Im sorry, but I think this policy is crazy. Maybe I'm the only one, who knows!

I can't believe this is for real. I agree with Courtney that children are very dependent on the their parents but at the same time I agree with Emily that sometimes things happen (the car won't start, you over sleep, etc.). If a parent is continously late then I think I think this would certianly make them think twice before their children were late again, but if it's a once or twice thing I think it's a little overboard.

I'm over there with Emily: this is absurd. What empowers a school authority to detain citizens for tardiness? I can't wait till some parent's car has a flat in the morning and their kid's school makes the parent late for work. I mean, would the parent's employer accept a "late note" from the school?! LOL! Sorry, I find the rule somewhat humorous.

Besides this pragmatic absurdity, Ashley's question stabs at the legal problems:



What legal reasoning does the Manhatten school cite? Is this tardiness a civil or criminal offense? Schools are indeed empowered by parents (adult citizens) to educate their children so the legal reason for detaining parents could be some law extending the power of schools over parents. There is some precidence for this: parents are compelled by the state to provide their children education, but the state enforces this through social welfare -- not schools. A social worker intervenes to provide a kid an education instead of the local principals or other school officials getting involved. This allows educators to educate children instead of trying enforce rules on the community of parents.

I need some legal reasons for the Manhatten school's rules because I am far too entrenched in the power of the people, ie. was this rule referred to parents for a vote?

My first response is that of Ashleys, of the absurdity of this concept. I also agree with everyone that it is important to take note that parents involvement or lack their of must be taken into account in most situations. However, I feel that this is a situation based problem. I mean if it is a parent who is just lazy or apathetic then i agree somehting must be done to spark their attention, but if it is a single mother who is working two jobs and struggling to get food on the table then this needs to be taken into account and addressed as a problem in itself. This is a crazy idea and like Jessica I am curious as to how it has played out.

Are you serious? You’ve got to be kidding me. Parents are now being put in detention for dropping off their children late? This is past RIDICULOUS!!!!

Parents often struggle to balance family, work, school, and the million other things going on in life. Things happen. Schools have the authority to MAKE parents sit in 20 minutes of detention? What happens if they refuse? I suppose the next step must be some type of “In School Suspensionâ€

I can't believe that adminstrators of this school feel that they can uphold another adult to detention and I think that it is a pretty shocking that parents are agreeing to do this. However...I started thinking, I wonder if they had an such an issue with tardies that school voted in a way to hold parents more liable and maybe a way to promote it. It is an interesting concept...I am just curious how it began a "rule"

I think that is ridiculous. I would NEVER go to detention if I were a parent. Now, I know that I am going to be a responsible parent but I just do not understand where in the hell the school gets off saying that if the parents drops their child off late they must come get a detention slip. Maybe something happened at home or maybe there was traffic. I just think that is a little crazy. I also do not see how in the world the school has the power to enforce that?!

So manhatten is telling me as a parent, that because my 2 year old was throwing up all last night, and I woke up ten minutes late with what I am sure is going to turn into the same illness, and my son is pitching a fit because he can't find his show n tell for first grade, and the dog tore the garbage up and i have to pick that up before I go, and traffic is gridlock b/c I am running ten minutes bhind, that I have to sit in the gym with my son who is crying b/c now he is missing PE in his first session at school? Can you write me a note Mr. Principal to my boss to explain why I now have to be late for work? And can you also write to my mortgage company and the power plant to explain why my bills are going to be late when my pay is cut?
Okay - I know that scenario is a little extreme. But so is this.

Like everyone else I cant believe that this is happening! And how this is happening! I agree with Ashley..something must have happened with tardies and the school must have voted to enforce this. I wonder what has happened with the results? I wonder if the parents have started bringing their children on time? I hope that the parents would learn something by this. If the parents are getting put in detention should the chidlren also get put in detention? I want to find out more details about the article.

Yeah, this is a little strange. I would be pretty pissed if I had to go to detention because I was a few minutes late dropping my child off. I agree with Ashley, sometimes you can't help it when you are late. I bet more parents will start making their kids ride the bus now instead of taking them to school.

This is definitely ridiculous. The parents serving detention is something I wasn't expecting to hear about. I never understood the big emphasis on detentions and suspensions throughout school. At my high school if someone got too many tardies they were suspended. That doesn't make sense because most of these kids don't want to be there anyways, so you are basically giving them what they want. All of these stupid rules take away from learning time for students. I don't understand why you punish someone for being late by making them sit there in silence, do petty busy work, or suspend them.

so i found this article that is related to this topic of parent detention,

if you are interested:
http://www.nypost.com/seven/10012006/news/regionalnews/tardy_moms_shipped_to_detention_at_e__side_school_regionalnews_david_andreatta________and_cassi_feldman.htm

I think this is quite funny! I think most parents would laugh if they were told they had to do this. I mean seriously, I believe it is our job as educators to help the students become successful. Not spend our time making up silly punishments for the PARENTS, that probably won't work anyway.

Serving Detention -

Along with everyone else I cannot believe that the principal of the Manhattan School for Children, Susan Rappaport, is enforcing the new policy of detention, which is intended to motivate parents to drop their children off in the morning on time. "The parents need to make the breakfast, get the children dressed and get them to school on time," principal Susan Rappaport told the New York Post for Sunday's editions. I believe the policy is affected because severing detention, as an adult is a punishment and humiliating. Regular detention is a form of punishment used in schools, where a student is required to spend extra time in school. A detention usually takes place during a period after the end of the school day. However, other times may also be used such as before the school day, weekend, and breaks in the school day, such as lunch.

A detention is typically carried out in a room that offers no time for leisure activity, 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 task, usually to decrease boredom. Such tasks may take the form of housekeeping, such as clapping blackboard erasers or picking up litter; academic such as writing an essay or answering questions on why the detention was given, or copying out paragraphs from a text.

Would you serve detention if your child’s school told you to?

i am shocked at this concept of making parents sit through detention. i hate to keep saying what everyone else has commented, but seriously...if i was a parent and had some dire emergency that morning that made my child late for school and someone tried to make me sit in detention like i was 12 again i would be so upset. i think this is absolutely crazy and to be honest i can't believe it is actually being tried and i wonder how long it will stay in place.