Writing As Punishment - A Rant

This is a huge pet peeve of mine that I simply do not understand. Schools are still using writing as punishment. It's wrong, wrong, wrong and the stupidity in such "punishment" really makes me angry. Maybe it's one of those things that is done because it's, "always been done," and some never think twice about the ramifications and the message that is sent. If that's the case, then it's time to wake some people up.

The scenario is usually something like this: Johnny or Sally is late for class (or some such thing), and the teacher tells them that their punishment will be, "a writing assignment." Ugh. In the mildest form it is usually the old, "I WILL NOT ________" 100 times on the board or on paper. This is bad enough as it makes the connection between pen and paper and punishment. However, at its worst, the "punishment" is an actual writing assignment. Maybe it's an essay on why it's important to not be late. Maybe it's a report on anything, as long as it is X number of words. Sometimes it is a two-page biographical sketch of the student's choice. (In and of itself - an excellent educational activity!) But as punishment? The message is clear. If you, Johnny or Sally, do something wrong you may very well be forced to write - and we know how much you hate to write! (Or if you don't hate to write, you should!)

The basis of this punishment is an assumption that nobody actually likes to write. Can you imagine? As punishment, you will have to learn about somebody and put your reflections - on paper! In other words, research and (God forbid) writing is such an awful activity, that if you do something wrong - you are stuck with pen and paper, or in front of a computer screen to do something more than play games. You will have to.....to.....to..... write!

How stupid can we be? How have we let this go on as long as it has? Do you need a Masters in Education to see how crazy this is? Well....forget that last sentence....many of them are the very people who perpetuate this atrocity. You might very well need to step away from the education establishment to see the absurdity in using writing as punishment.

What can we do? If you agree, and you find your schools are using writing as punishment - complain. Loudly. In person - and in, uh, writing. If you have children and they are "threatened" with a writing assignment as discipline, it's time to call the teacher and make an appointment. Many teachers when presented with the common-sense of NOT using this method will hit their forehead and say, "What was I thinking?," others though will fight to the bitter end because that's what they were taught. If they claim it is school policy - time to make the appointment with the principal. If the principal claims it is district policy - time to write that speech for the school board.

Writing as punishment? What a horrible message to send our children. Let's all - all of us who love pens, pencils, paper, books and writing - do our part to help change this upside-down kind of thinking about writing. No more writing as punishment. Period.

Comments

[Russell Crosswy]

I can remember getting "write-offs" in middle school as punishment. I never liked writing papers, or much of anything for that matter, during Middle School and much of High School. I had a negative association with writing. Some teachers in High School began to change that for me and encouraged me in some of my writings. I've only recently began to journal and write and blog for fun and enjoyment. I just got of college, I guess I needed the time to do my own thing when I wanted to write. Looking back I realize some of the weaknesses in my education. I've become interested in writing and journaling, not necessarily as a career but as personal development. I believe some of these topics should be taught in schools. (I smell a Moleskine sponsored Journal Education Program!) I see now that if I had learned more about journaling, writing for personal need and use, and organization (GTD) during my formative years in Elementary through High School I would be much better off today.

[Michael Leddy]

I'm amazed to know that this practice is still with us -- my kids, at least, have never had to write in this way,

When I was in junior high, our music class -- everybody in it-- was given punishment essays on a regular basis. I remember turning them into opportunities for fun. My 500 words on why we should not talk in class would begin with lengthy digressions, and I'd always run out of words just when I was getting to get to the subject I was supposed to be addressing. I don't know if my teacher was amused, but nothing ever happened to me. Maybe she never read the stuff.

[MIKE - PN]

Ah yes, it still goes on and gets very little attention. Granted, it isn't as widespread as it used to be, but the writing punishment continues. By the way, the National Council of Teachers of English has opposed this practice since the late seventies - and still do. Russell, in his comment above, had some excellent thoughts concerning the positive use of writing in schools. Some teachers in elementary school have the kids journal each day as a record of their school year. This is great! However, the practice seems to end in middle school and high school when it could be a huge benefit in so many ways.

[rummikirby]

Even at the college level, writing, especially bad writing, is treated as punishment to be administered. Several years ago while pursuing a BA in English, I worked as a writing tutor at the University Writing Center. So often, students dragged themselves in because they were told they "had" to be there because their writing was "bad." A trip to the Writing Center was viewed as a jail sentence. Needless to say, those students were usually the least receptive to any kind of help that (we) tutors could offer. Their view of writing/the writing center was already tainted by teachers who treated writing and the whole writing process as something akin to a ball and chain.

Thanks, Mike, for bringing up this topic.

[Christopher Meisenzahl]

I can remember sitting in "JUG" at my Jesuit high school having to write "Correction - Discipline" hundreds of times. ;-)

Chris
http://amateureconblog.blogspot.com/

[Stacie]

What a shame it is.
We all have forgotten that writing is an art, a long lost art! NOT a punishment!!!

[Dave]

I stongly disagree with the sentements expressed here. I believe that writing punishments, if enforced, can be an extremely useful tool in disciplining student misbehavior and in preventing future misbehavior. By making a student who behaves badly write, you take away his or her free time, one of the most valuable things that the student has. I think that the benefits of using writing pounishment for mainting order and discpline in schools far outweigh the highly speculative claims that writing punishments destroy creativity and discourage students from writing. Note that in my experience I would not give a writing assignment to a student unless I had previously reprimanded and warned the student.

Personally, I liked to make students write sentences of the "I must ..." or "I will not ..." variety (a/k/a lines). I would assign the line anywhere from 300 to 500 times for a first offense, depending on the nature of that offense, and usually 500 or more times on the rare occasions that I had to assign writing for a second offense. The assignment was easy for me to check and amounted to a boring and repetative task for the student. As one friend of mine observed "repeatedly misbehaving students are tedious and boring for everyone else and they deserve a nice long and boring assignment." In addition, I seriously doubt any student would be discouraged from any king of creative writing becuase of having to write lines. I would also note that very few students who received one writing assignment ever ended up getting a second one.

[Douglas]

I agree with Stacie. If it works as discipline, why stop it? As a teacher I feel that this is an effective tool. I usually have my misbehaving students read an article and then give a writing summary of it. They're learning from the article and also learning that inappropriate behavior has consequences.

[Mike Swickey - Paper Notes]

A RESPONSE FROM MIKE SWICKEY - PaperNotesInADigitalWorld

Douglas wrote:
I agree with Stacie. If it works as discipline, why stop it? As a teacher I feel that this is an effective tool. I usually have my misbehaving students read an article and then give a writing summary of it. They're learning from the article and also learning that inappropriate behavior has consequences.
-----------
Hi Douglas,

Just had to respond to your comment. Those comments supporting writing as punishment seem to be missing my point. Your last sentence is exactly why some of us believe it's a huge mistake: "They're learning from the article and also learning that inappropriate behavior has consequences."

The problem is writing as a "consequence" (your word) of doing something "bad".....Why teach kids that writing is such an awful thing to do that if there are disciplinary problems they will face the "consequences," --- writing! Shouldn't we be teaching kids that writing is a good, healthy, invigorating thing? Think of it like this: suppose you wanted to teach kids that football was a good thing; that college football and the NFL were good and worthy sports and great interests to follow. (Most of us would agree they are - substitute something else that you enjoy). Now suppose that when there is a disciplinary problem that you forced them to sit through a football game because that was seen as such an awful thing! Imagine, inappropriate behavior has consequences, and those consequences are watching college football! That wouldn't make much sense if you were actually wanting them to understand that football was a good and worthy interest, would it? By teaching them that football is a "consequence" of inappropriate behavior - you're obviously telling them football is a bad thing that they will be punished with if they act up! Again, substitute something else that you might find enjoyable if football isn't your thing. You see, it's the same thing for writing! It is not something that is so bad that kids should be taught that if there are disciplinary problems that they will be "subjected to."

It seems that some don't seem to grasp this concept. It's like Pavlov's dogs in reverse.
The drill? Do something bad: you must write. (God forbid!) The message? Writing is something you don't want to have to do - so don't engage in inappropriate behavior - and you won't have to write. Writing as punishment is a shame. Something that makes no sense in an educational setting where writing should be taught as something that will enhance their lot in life .

Respectfully,
Mike Swickey
Paper Notes in a Digital World

[dave]

I can't agree with you Mike!

First, I note that writing punishment has long been used, and there is no empiracal evidence to back up the claims of its critics. Second, your analogy to football hints at the error in your thinking. In almost any sport, staying in shape through running and other exercises is extremely important thing for an athlete to do. However, the need for athletes to do these exercises and for coaches to encourage their players to do them does not prevent coaches from requiring players who miss practice, violate curfew or break other rules to do sprints and other exercises. The extra exercises no more adversly impacts an athlete than writing punishment impacts a student. Indeed, sprints and exercises are as time honored in inter-scholatic sports as writing punishment is in the classroom setting.

Finally, even if there was some merit to your point in the context of punishment essays, I fail to see how your point has any application in the context of assigning lines to be written over and over again. No scholastic writing involves such an assignment. In my judgement, the unmistakably punitive nature of this type of assignment is one of the reasons why it is such an effective punishment, inasmuch as there is no misunderstanding as to why the kid is doing the assignment.

[Mike Swickey - PaperNotesInADigital World]

Dave, I suppose if I want my child to enjoy filmmaking, whenever he acts up, I'll send him out to film a documentary - as punishment! Seriously Dave, many of us disagree with you and there's obviously many points-of-view. We believe writing is something to be cultivated as an activity to be enjoyed and not one used as punishment. Period. I appreciate you taking the time to leave your opinion (twice) at Paper Notes. However, we'll just have to agree to disagree.

[nora]

Mike, do you have any research on this topic? I am trying to write a letter to the school board, and I am having a hard time finding research in this area.

Thanks!!!!

[jaynee solomon]

I completely agree that writing should not be used as a form of punishment! I am currently battling an incident concerning this. Those who state that not only is it an educational experience but a consequense to inappropriate behavior are contradicting themselves within that very statement. I fail to understand how something can be enriching and condemning at the same time. As for "giving those children who are tedious and boring something tedious and boring in return," if we as educators never had a challenge in our classroom, then what reward have we earned? Those children need to be stimulated in a positive manner. Certainly there are more appropriate forms of punishment that can be deemed effective.

[Alex]

I agree with stacie also. It might be true that writing essays as a punishment puts
kids off writing, but writing lines is totally different. The fun part of writing
creatively is the creative part, not the mechanics of forming the letters on the paper. I don't see how making kids write lines would put them off writing per se.

[Miss B]

It is wrong to force a child to write "I will not..." anything 100 times or any number of times!! My 10 year old and her class mates were yelled at by their teacher for talking in class the day before yesterday. They were told to write "I will not act badly with a teacher" 1000 times...Most of the kids were not able to finish it in 24 hours...It then became 2000 and now 3000 times.
I am marching down to that school tomorrow to let that teacher know , this is absurd and excessive..
This kind of abuse feeds into breaking down our kids' self esteem and confidence...as well as instills fear as if there is no one that cares enough to defend their rights as students...It's time to take the leadership position of protecting all of our kids from this type of unnecessary abuse..

[Dave]

Miss B,

I strongly beleive in the use of writing punishment. However, I understand your concern, and believe that you have a very legitimate complaint under the circumstances.

As I see it, the problem is not the teacher's punishment per se, but that the teacher has chosen to punish the entire class for the misdeeds of a few. That is a very poor disciplinary technique that is bound to fail because there are no individualized consequences for the bad behavior of a particular child. Punishing the whole class destroys the incentive for good kids to be good while, in effect, empowering bad kids by allowing their misbehavior to result in punishment for the entire class, all the while allowing the bad kids to avoid any individualized responsibility for their bad behavior. Every kid tells the same story to their parents - that they are being punished becuase someone else was bad. I received these types of punishments as a schoolkid and I never saw any positive effect on class behavior. By contrast, when a teacher imposed 1000 lines on one or two misbehaving students, you could no hear a pin drop in the classroom for several hours.

In addtion, to being ineffective class punishments are grossly unfair to the kids who were not misbehaving. good luck in your meeting with the teacher!

This sort of punishment is ill-effective. It is nearly impossible to teach a child by merely punishing unfavorable behavior- instead, you must teach them alternative behaviors that are more appropriate. Instead of punishing a child for the unwanted behavior, reinforce other behaviors that are positive. Empirical studies in psychology have long proved that reinforcement is far more effective than punishment.

The other draw-back to punishment is generalization. For example, forcing a child to write a paper because he or she was late to class spills over into other facets of life. The child will associate paper writing with negative connotations. You can see how this will affect them later in life- low motivation = low academic performance.

Take a psychology class people.

[Jennifer]

As a recent graduate with a degree in Elementary Education, I am happy to say that I was taught that writing should never be used as a form of punishment for a student’s behavior. Therefore you can see why I found it appalling that my child’s entire class was given a punishment to write a sentence 50 times as a punishment for talking in class. Where have the teachers that are still implementing this form of punishment been? Thank you for taking the time to address this issue. Perhaps it may enlighten a few that need to be enlightened. I will be printing your posting and sending it in to this teacher along with the sentences that my child was assigned to write.

[Brent]

This entire argument against extra writing as punishment is based on a simple lack of deeper thought on the subject. The reasons for using it have been clearly stated in some of these previous posts. As far as I can see, the only reason stated not to use it is that in could induce a Pavlovian response associating writing with punishment. I would like to see some (or any) research done on this topic, but I am unable to find anything other than opinion (in one case there was a survey of teacher's opinions).
This argument sounds good on the surface, but it falls apart when you put it in context. It's just extra work. By the reasoning of the Pavlovian argument, you should never use any extra work as punishment. What parent hasn't found how effective assigning extra chores can be for mitigating bad behavior? Does this mean that the child will now not work and become a bum because of his negative association with work? I work in a school where writing cannot be used as punishment. They don't like writing assignments any more than the students from previous classes before this ridiculous decree was issued.

[LeOgAhEr]

I Love you girls

Buy

[KrisG]

I use writing as a punishment for my own son. We agreed on it in advance. He is ambidexterous and already hates writing, but understands that he HAS to work on it extensively - still, it hurts his hand a bit.

After 1 1/2 years of OT, he can write, but he is still slow. The repetition helps him go faster.

Writing LINES is helping him to write faster, which is his goal. In his case, it is a punishment designed to help him.

I also make him do push ups sometimes. He wants to be stronger.

[Douglas]

Responding to Mike and others, as has been stated, where is the research to back up the claims that using writing as punishment is bad? As a veteran teacher, I tend to do things that work and not do things that are trendy or commonplace that simply don't work or have no valid basis in fact. When a student misbehaves there must be consequences otherwise there is no incentive to not repeat the action. So often as educators we are told constantly what we can't do and not enough about what we can do to discipline students. Whenever a parent complains they usually take an angle or slant to the situation that explains why their child's punishment is wrong, too harsh, or unfair. This applies to every punishment out there. Why help support this line of reasoning that so hurts school discipline? I have personally heard or saw students go unpunished for issues as severe as threatening teachers simply because someone raised a big stink about the punishment. Some common examples:"You're double punishing him!", "You're hurting her self esteem", "It's better they stayed in school rather than be on the streets getting into trouble", "You're academically punishing him for a behavior issue", "You're punishing the whole class for the actions of a few", "You're picking on him", "That grade doesn't reflect what they know", only how they did in your class" etc. etc. ad nauseum.
If only society was as forgiving to misbehaviors.

[natalie]

Actually one thing all of you is overlooking is that the biggest problem with this assignment is the content. It has been proven that what you focus on is what you create and if you are having students continuously write what the are NOT supposed to do the whole assignment is focusing on the negative. The law of attraction says that you must focus on the results instead, so, if you must makethem write lines which i agree is pre historic then make them write positively written one like I will be attentive in class instead of the i will NOT talk in class. By the way I was a talker in class and have written more lines about not talking in class than anyone and have done so even through college. I still talk through meetings so I can tell you first hand they DONT work!!!!! Oh and I hate to write too!

[Ashley]

I agree with you in some ways and then I again I don't. I must say writings such as "I will not ___", or writing X amount of words, or a biography. But, I must say I dont agree with you totally. I encourage my students to have a behavior journal. The behavior journal is simply 5 sentences stating what YOU did, why you shouldnt do it, and what could be done better. I think of it as a reflection. Often many people write to express how they are feeling, and I use that to encourage my students to take responsibility for their actions. I think the behavior journal is a good "punishment" because its not just giving a child a time out, or a slap on the hand. Its actually being used for something

[Ralph Picot]

Writing a necessary form of punishment….

I currently work as a teacher in a less than desirable section of Boston. Although I agree with you writing as a form of punishment has no positive educational merits it is still a necessary evil because many times that is the only way to control kids who act out in class. It’s the only way sometimes to keep kids quiet, in fact my district policy for kids who act out “is to keep them writing”.

I find it also interesting that almost none of you looked at this issue from the teacher’s point of view but instead from horrified parental point of view. Imagine you’re a teacher who is only allowed to send kids down to the office for severe offenses like fighting, and calls home to the parents are not effective because the parents don’t care. Now what’s your solution for a class of kids that won’t stop talking, sure you could give all the really bad ones detention with you after class but what about the right now. How are you going to get them to stop talking when every time you ask them to stop, they start right up two minutes later? It just is not realistic to teach a class without occasionally using writing as a form of punishment.

Ralph