In-School Detention: For Whom and Why?

In French secondary education, detention is a way to punish students for minor breaches of the rules. This paper compares the quantity and reasons for detention at three schools and discusses the differences between them. In three different schools, the detention rate is lower among girls and younger students, which merits explanation. This paper also examines the distribution of detention. Far from being concentrated on a small number of students, detention reveals that the maintenance of law and order takes precedence over educational considerations.