Detention is used as disciplinary; chewing gum, swearing, not following the rules, etc., are all ways an individual can earn a place on the school's “capital punishment.” What does detention actually mean for the student or the community? Detention demonstrates to the pupil that schools do not care enough about improving their behaviour. Having a child sit in a quiet classroom and torment them with boredom doesn't make the individual feel guilty for what they did, it just makes them regret getting caught. With many tasks and people that can be helped, couldn't incarceration be used to contribute to the community instead of having the individual do nothing and help no one. This would impact communities as productive teenagers help out and perhaps have fun. Schools should ensure that detention is handled through community service and not through the traditional classroom style. Having community service for detention instead of having students sit in a classroom shows the student that the school truly cares about them. By making the student active and helping the community, you show the student that you care enough to interact with them instead of forgetting about them and leaving them in class. When you do this, it makes them unproductive and teaches them the least. If the detention is handled through community service, the supervisor can interact with the individual and talk about his or her behavioral problems, while still being productive. This way the conversation is deeper and more personal than in a classroom where no one can speak. Some might say that by making them do community service they don't get the full punishment, or "it shouldn't be fun", but they put in the same hours they would put in in class and work....half of the paper...is that they will be worse off when there will be an adult and he will be part of society. You don't fix society by hiding its weakest links, you make them stronger so you don't have weak links, you work from the bottom up. The benefits to the community from this agreement would be unimaginable and would be of great help. With the many benefits that the community, students and society gain from having detention handled through community service, a change needs to be considered for the future. With the increase in disciplinary problems in today's society, enforcement is needed. Performing community service for detention shows the student that the school cares about them, causes students to learn from mistakes in a productive way, and helps the community. Detention community service is child's play, and students may have no brains if we continue to deny them fair detention.