middle school detention assignments

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Teaching with Detention

Introduction

Far too often, students and educators struggle to see eye to eye. Teachers regularly disagree on methods of disciplining their students. Controversy arises, even, with the question of whether or not teachers should apply any discipline to their students, or leave it up to the parents. One of the most common practices in dealing with misbehaving students is holding after school detention. But by keeping students after school hours, are teachers exercising their rights, or going too far? Is detention an effective solution to class disruptions, or would it spur future problems?

Free resources across the internet allow for teachers to weigh detention and all of its possible alternatives.

• Lesson Plan
•   Behavior Worksheets : Here, Worksheet Place provides dozens of worksheets for students that assist them in assessing their behavior and emotions. The worksheets include behavior contracts, bullying analyses, conflict resolutions, goal setting, and more. The page also includes resources for teachers, including classroom management checklists, and class rules that teachers can display on their walls. These tasks can be used as opportunities for reflection in place of punishment or can serve as activities to be completed during detention. These worksheets are mostly intended for younger students and can be completed inside or outside of regular class time.
• Reflection Document : Pivotal Education provides this reflection worksheet to give to detention-serving students. The document is meant to outline an activity more productive than what is normally presented for students, and to prevent further behavior issues in the future. The questions on the worksheet force the student to identify and reflect on the people affected by their actions and ideas for preventing future issues. The open-ended questions within the document allow for flexibility for the worksheet to be used with virtually any age range.
• Discipline Packet : This online packet from Teacher Beacon provides worksheets and for responding to misbehavior. The packet includes printable warning slips, a behavior contract, and a sample letter to parents. Also included are writing assignments to be completed by students who break classroom ground rules. Most of these assignments serve as consequences for minor infringements such as gum-chewing, tardiness, and disruptive behavior. The writing assignments can serve as lesser consequences to stop the behavior before further action becomes necessary. Teachers can utilize items within this packet to establish ground rules and to keep track of recurring offenses.
• Do Detentions and Suspensions Work? : Here. Education World interviewed Annemarie Hillman, a policy fellow at Connecticut Voices for Children, to analyze whether detentions and suspensions prove themselves effective in schools. She classifies suspensions as ineffective since students tend to view them like vacations. Detentions, however, can work “if done right.” They can serve as an incentive to keep students from repeating misbehavior. When students serve detention during lunch, they miss out on a social opportunity and in turn will be less likely to act up in the future. 
• New Direction : James Paterson from District Administration Media examines ways that adults are trying to implement disciplinary action into their schools. The article establishes that African American and special needs students face disproportionate rates of exclusionary punishment. According to a number of cited studies, students who receive detentions are more likely to drop out of school altogether. This article highlights alternatives that teachers have found to the standard sit-silently style of confinement. Allowing students to reflect on their actions and for teachers to coach struggling students proves much more productive. Teachers can read this article to determine improvements for the established practice.
• Student-Run Courts : This article from The Guardian acknowledges the disproportionality of detentions in school systems and outlines a recent alternative to the custom: mock court systems. Rather than serve detention for certain offenses, students are to stand before a committee of their peers, make their case, and ultimately face fair consequences for their actions. The article praises this new approach, arguing that it prevents student-teacher discrimination in disciplinary systems and consequently fights the impelling school-to-prison pipeline.
• Informational Sites
• Defining Detention : Queensland Government provides a foundational understanding of detention and the common practices associated with it. The site outlines parameters for responsible behavior in a linked study, titled “Safe, Supportive and Disciplined School Environment Procedure.” This page can serve helpful for those who may desire a better understanding of what detention is, or for educators unfamiliar with how to lead a session.
• Responding to Bad Behavior : University of Florida’s College of Education lists possible ways in which educators can respond to bad behavior. The items on this list can serve as alternatives to detention, a practice which may be the first thing that comes to mind. The actions can be applied to students of most ages. The approaches range from keeping a behavior log, to requiring a writing assignment, to revoking parking privileges for older students. While detention is one of the listed consequences, teachers can choose from any item on the list to enforce in their own classrooms.
• Task Ideas : Study.com provides this list of tips and ideas for teachers choosing to hold students after school. The goal of the article and the tradition is to provide students with tasks that will prevent future mishaps and improve classroom behavior. The site lists tactics that teachers can employ, such as dialogue journals and reflection sheets, and links supporting articles for each strategy. The site lists four strategies for teachers, all of which can be stretched to fit students of almost any age range.

Young people often rave about how educational institutions take up so much of their time and teach them no real-life skills. They are, after all, full-time students by the age of six. Perhaps by making the time spent with students, detention included, more productive, teachers can allow students to further appreciate their education and apply themselves more in the future. Educators should make sure that any disciplinary measures they take have the students’ best interests in mind. Schools should weigh circumstances to decide what method of discipline would be most fair for the students’ and teacher’s time.

Additional Resources

• Middle-School : This neaToday article criticizes forms of discipline for middle-school-aged children. Author Sabrina Holcomb references the school-to-prison pipeline, a theory that correlates higher rates of suspensions and expulsions with a higher likelihood of those same students becoming unemployed and going to prison. When a student’s learning is interrupted by such punitive measures, they are more likely to drop out of school and rely mainly on government-provided welfare programs. Holcomb acknowledges that the issue is not the fault of the teachers, but rather that of the broader school disciplinary system.
•   Detention Is Not The Answer : This literature review by Stephanie McCann from Northwestern College examines practices of institutional discipline, especially detention, and attempts to determine the most productive method for everyone involved. In the past, the practice has discriminated harshly against certain students. The author gathers that students for whom detention becomes a pattern experience major social and emotional consequences that affect them “for the rest of their life.” She acknowledges alternatives for the penalty and suggests that schools find a consensus for what works for their students. 

Example Guidelines : This site lists the guidelines for after-school detention at Lakewood Junior High School in California. The page delineates the school’s specific regulations, including commonly broken rules, expectations for those serving detention, and principles of conduct for future reference. Teachers can utilize this site to gain a better understanding of how one school approaches its academic disciplinary system. Should they choose to administer detentions, educators can look to these clear-cut guidelines when crafting their own system.

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3 Alternatives to Assigning Detention

Developing relationships with students to help them make positive choices requires planning and patience, but the work pays off.

There may be times when you have reached the end of your patience with a student’s behavior. They may disrupt learning or repeat a negative behavior too many times. What do we do as teachers in these scenarios? Sometimes the simple answer is assigning detention.

Yet detention is not an effective discipline tool for some students , and in fact it might increase the recurrence of negative behavior. Detention and other punitive measures, like suspensions and expulsions, can contribute to other issues , such as recidivism among students, despite harsher or longer punishments. These measures have the potential to increase apathy and defiance. They can jeopardize teachers’ and staff’s efforts to build relationships and trust. Finally, they can have a negative effect on a student’s academic performance.

There is evidence of racial and ethnic disparities among students assigned to detention. In 2014, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights sent a letter to educators outlining the disparities and offering alternatives to detention and suspension. Instead of detention, the DOE recommends restorative practices and positive interventions, such as counseling.

There may be severe circumstances that require removing a student from the school environment and placing them on off-campus suspension, such as hitting, fighting, threatening, or verbal assault. But before submitting a detention referral form for minor, day-to-day offenses, consider these three alternatives.

One suggestion is to create a reflection room in place of one for detention. In it, teachers, administrators, caregivers, and the student go through a reflective process to understand the root cause of a conflict and assist the student in understanding and identifying better options. Reflective practices teach students what actions they can take in the future when confronted with difficult situations.

As a middle school assistant principal, I recently had two students referred to me for pushing each other during recess. As I spoke with each of the students individually, I realized they had very different perspectives on what had occurred. “I tripped and landed on him. Really!” versus “He deliberately ran into me!”

These two students needed to learn how to see a situation from another person’s point of view. They each wrote a narrative description of the scuffle as if they were the other person. I followed up with each student separately, and both realized that perhaps they had misinterpreted the other person’s intentions. After writing a reflection, there’s no guarantee that they will never push each other again. But maybe they’ll take a moment to consider what the other person is thinking before they react physically.

Logical Consequences

If you are familiar with the concept of the Responsive Classroom , you might have heard about logical consequences . Instead of harsh punishment, the teacher gently instructs the student on how to correct their errors.

At the end of the discussion, students become empowered because the teacher assists them in reaching epiphanies like “When I knock things down, I have to help build them back up,” “I can fix things when I mess up,” or “My teacher helps me solve problems.” If a student leaves a mess at the lunch table, the obvious next step is to clean it up. Please keep in mind that this is not a suggestion to assign illogical chores, such as “You forgot your homework, now scrape gum off the sidewalk.”

The tone of the teacher is critical when using logical consequences. It should convey problem-solving and learning rather than anger or frustration. Maintaining students’ dignity is essential for assisting them in learning from an experience.

Logical consequences do not always have to be negative. When students make thoughtful decisions that result in good outcomes, note it. Ask your school administration if they will accept “positive office referrals” in which a teacher refers a student for helpful behaviors. How cool would it be if your students routinely wondered, “Is she there for a positive referral?” whenever the principal called a student out of class.

Restorative Practices

Restorative practices, in a nutshell, teach students how to right the wrongs they have caused. They provide alternatives to using punishment and build healthier learning communities. To quote Arkansas principal Chelsea Jennings , “Kids who are frequently in trouble are often testing a system that has repeatedly failed them, but a restorative approach says ‘we are not giving up on you.’”

If a student disrespects another student or staff member in words or actions, how can that student attempt to repair the harm done? A science teacher at our school implemented this approach when a student disrupted her class. The teacher informed the student that her disruptive behavior had taken away instructional time, and as a result, the student would have to help the teacher recoup some of the lost time by assisting with the prep for the next lab before school. Even if the student thought that prepping for a lab was enjoyable or fun, that student was fulfilling the spirit of the consequence: making up for the lost time.

Peer conflict resolution assists students in working to repair the harm done to another student. Students can be taught conflict resolution with the help of a faculty member or counselor. If a student uses a slur or disrespectful language, that student should investigate why that language is harmful. By conducting research first, the offending student can craft a more sympathetic and informed apology to the victim.

An example of this is a middle school student who made a racially insensitive joke. From speaking with the student, it was clear that he did not know the joke was offensive. He was repeating what he had read on the internet. After doing some research on the origins of the joke, the student realized why it was hurtful and sincerely apologized.

There would be no growth, no new understanding, no repairing of harm, if I simply assigned him detention.

The alternatives suggested above are not quick and easy. Some people will object, fearing that restorative practices are letting students off easy or with just a slap on the wrist. These are valid concerns, but one important point to remember is that restorative practices are preventive actions based on relationships.

Building the relationships necessary to guide students toward positive choices requires creativity, planning, and a lot of patience. So why do it? It pays off when students’ behavior improves and the community becomes a more positive environment.

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How to Reduce After-School Detentions and Make Them Meaningful

Detention has been around for as long as I can remember, and some of us—myself included—have served a detention or two when we were students. When I became principal of Wilson West Middle School, I thought deeply about detention as part of our discipline practice. Do detention policies that have been around for decades work for today’s students? If the same students keep finding themselves in detention, what good do they serve? Are detentions effective and helping students learn from their mistakes or do schools keep them simply because they are so ingrained in our tradition?

What if there was a way to stop the same students from receiving detentions or not give them any at all? You can, by replacing it with more constructive ways for students to learn from their mistakes.

Here’s what we did at Wilson West Middle School to reduce detentions and make them more meaningful:

Create a Staff Committee to Review Discipline

Like so much of our work as school leaders, we are better when we work together. We formed a committee of administrators, teachers, and counselors to review our current approaches to discipline and detention policies and looked closely at what infractions students were committing to gain an understanding of what was really happening with detention. What we saw was the same students receiving repeated detentions and not all of our teachers assigning detentions; only a few teachers gave detentions, so some students had higher detention numbers only because they had a particular teacher. And when we asked these teachers why they assigned detentions, it wasn’t because they thought them particularly effective at curbing the behavior, but rather they did it because that is what the student handbook required and there was no other way to address the behavior.

Update Outdated Detention Policies

These observations led us to review our detention policies. Our committee realized quickly how outdated some of the rules were, and we needed to make changes. For example, we dropped the no gum or food policies schoolwide and turned that responsibility over to the individual classroom teacher. Each teacher decides if they want to make that a classroom rule/policy. In real life everyone can eat and drink anywhere they want unless it is posted. Are we not getting our children ready for the next level? Teachers and staff have that morning cup of coffee or tea. Why can’t students? Do we practice what we preach?

Another big issue for which students were getting detentions involved being late to class. To address this issue, we got rid of our bell schedule. This required a major climate shift in the building, and there was immediate pushback from the staff. I created a schedule that had one-minute passing times between classes and explained to the teachers that they should be the ones starting and dismissing the classes, not the bell. Next time you are in the hallway, take a look at the number of students that stand in the hallway speaking with friends, waiting for the bell to ring before darting into class. To avoid the sporadic and inconsistent nature of late markings, there are no bells. In addition, it more closely resembles the nature of the likely next leg of their journey—college.

Creating New Detention Criteria

Just by making these two changes, we saw an overall decrease in detentions by 75 percent. The detentions that are assigned are addressed by the teacher or administrator with a call home and engagement with a parent/guardian. Getting the parents/guardians involved is the first step in making detentions more meaningful for students. After all, if the infraction is bad enough to warrant a detention, then parents need to be called.

We also track the students who are getting detentions. If a student gets four or more detentions in a quarter, we set up a conference with the parent/guardian. The staff that are invited usually consist of grade-level team members, a counselor, an administrator, and other interested parties. These meetings help to address the problem behaviors in a more direct way by discussing the underlying issues that led to the infraction in the first place.

Making Time in Detention More Meaningful

• Write a reflection as to why they got detention in the first place and what they could have done differently.
• Have a one-on-one conference with the monitor who asks the student a variety of questions for personal reflection. We developed questions for various situations to guide these conferences.
• Read an article about their offense and then report out to the counselor.
• Set goals. One of those goals should be not to get detention ever again.
• Write an apology letter to their parents for being assigned the detention. In the letter they should explain why they got the detention and thank them for picking them up after detention.

We also use lunch detentions. When serving a lunch detention, the student needs to do schoolwork as they are eating. This is also a good time to have teachers conference with students to discuss why they received the lunch detention. (Check with the building union representative prior to asking a teacher to do this during their lunch.)

Changing our detention policies have shifted our culture from a punitive one where students’ every move is monitored to a restorative one where students have more autonomy and choice. I encourage all of you to review your school’s approach to discipline and its detention policies. Making a few adjustments can definitely change the climate of your building for the better.

What is your school’s approach to detention? What strategies help make detention more meaningful and effective?

Kyle Wetherhold is the Principal at Wilson West Middle School, a state and national School to Watch. He is the 2018 Pennsylvania Principal of the Year. Follow him on Twitter @ wetkyl .

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Richard James Rogers

Educational articles and advice for teachers. www.amazon.com/author/rogersrichard

The Effective Use of Detentions

An article by   Richard James Rogers   (Author of  The Quick Guide to Classroom Management )

Illustrated by   Pop Sutthiya Lertyongphati  

The events in this article are based on actual occurrences. The names and, in some instances, the genders of individuals have been changed to protect the individuals’ privacy.

He opened his laptop and started playing around, again. I hadn’t quite noticed until I’d gotten the rest of this Year 7 class to get their books open and start completing the questions that were on the whiteboard.

It took a good five minutes for them all to settle down.

They’d just been learning about the human body in the best way I could think of: They took apart a life-sized model of a human female (filled with plastic, life-sized organs) and completely rebuilt it.

It had gotten them quite excited; especially the boys, who thought that the mammary glands inside a female breast were completely hilarious!

The class then had to cut and stick a paper human body together – organs included. But he was taking too long.

Christopher  was a happy and talkative kid, but his work-rate was slow. On two occasions that lesson I walked over to his desk to help out and remind him to speed up, as everyone else was ahead of where he was. He should have been able to get that work done quickly. He had no Special Educational Needs and his English proficiency had increased so much in three months that he had graduated from the E.L.D. programme.

The only thing slowing him down was his chattiness.

I should have moved him sooner in the lesson – my mistake. 15  minutes before the end of the class I moved him to the front to sit next to me, where he couldn’t chat with friends and be distracted.

It wasn’t enough time.

I pondered the idea of giving him a detention. Break-time was straight after this lesson, so it would be easy for me to keep him behind for ten minutes to get that work done. 

The concept and purpose of detentions

Before we can fully understand how to use detentions effectively, we must first remind ourselves of what detentions are and, therefore, what their purpose should be. 

A detention is a period of time that is purposefully taken away from a student’s extra-curricular or non-curricular time. It may involve a teacher-supervised activity during a morning break, lunch or after school. 

Detentions are given to students for a wide-variety of reasons; some of which are more logical than others. Reasons for detentions (starting with the most logical and useful) can include:

• Failure to complete homework or classwork
• Poor attendance
• Persistent lateness/lack of punctuality
• Disruption to class activities through poor behaviour
• Receiving a certain, set number of ‘warnings’ or ‘demerits’

Christopher’s case as an example to follow

The most logical and useful way to use detentions is time-for-time:  time not spent completing homework or classwork should be compensated by time spent on detention.

In Christopher’s case I decided to give the break-time detention. Here are the reasons for my choice:

• The Science lesson ended at break-time, so it was convenient for me to keep him behind in my class (I didn’t have the problem of, say, giving him a lunchtime detention for the next day and then having to remember that he is coming and maybe chase him up if he doesn’t come along). 
• Christopher would be exchanging his breaktime for time spent completing his classwork. He must do this, as he will fall behind if he doesn’t.
• The detention serves as a reinforcement of the teacher’s authority, and a stern reminder that a poor work-ethic just won’t be tolerated. It turns out that after only two such break-time detentions, Christopher pulled up his socks and began working at a reasonable pace during lessons. 

General tips for detentions that will save you many problems

Every detention must attempt to address or solve the problem that it was given for .

Consider the following:

• Detentions eat up the teacher’s time as well as the students, so we really should only be giving out detentions when it is absolutely necessary (as in Christopher’s case above)
• For homework that’s not done on time: call the perpetrating student or students to your desk for a quick one-to-one discussion at the end of class, or during a class activity. Express your disappointment, and why meeting deadlines is important. Relate it to the world of work, for example “If I didn’t write your reports on time, what would happen to me? That’s right, I’d be in big trouble” . Allow the students an extra day or so to get the work done. No need for conflict, no need to spend your precious lunch time giving a detention.
• If students still don’t hand in the homework even after extending a deadline, then it is necessary to give a detention. CRUCIALLY, however, the purpose of the detention MUST be to complete that homework. Print the sheet again if necessary, provide the necessary resources and get the student to complete the work. This makes the detention less confrontational and reinforces the reason why it was given in the first place. 
• The same goes for classwork: give students the chance to take their books home and complete classwork if it isn’t done on-time in class. Persistent slow work-rates in class, if not caused by reasonable circumstances (such as Special Educational Needs), should be met with detentions that allow the student to catch up. In almost every case you’ll find that the students will cotton-on to the fact that they can’t get away with distraction and laziness in class, and they’ll soon improve. For those that don’t improve even after focused detentions, further action will be needed and may involve parents and senior/middle management. 
• For poor behaviour, detentions need to be planned and crafted really well. Remember: the detention should attempt to address or solve the problem that it was given for . I remember a couple of years back when two boys got involved in a bit of a scuffle in the science lab. It wasn’t anything major, but one kid said a nasty word to the other and that kid decided to punch his mate in the arm quite hard. As a Science Teacher, this is something I must absolutely nip-in-the-bud because safety in the lab is paramount, and kids just can’t scuffle or fight in there: period. I gave them both a detention for the next day at 1pm. They came, and I spent the time explaining to them why their behavior was unacceptable. They wrote letters of apology to me and each other, and left the detention understanding exactly why I had taken their time away from them. I didn’t have a problem with them again.
• Lessons that end at break times work well for giving detentions if necessary, as you can easily retain the students when the bell rings. If you do assign detentions for the next day or at a later time, then pencil those into your diary – this will serve both as a useful reminder and as a record of who’ve you’ve given detentions to and how often. 

Recurring work 

I’m a massive believer in the power of recurring work and journaling, and have written about it in detail here and here . 

Learning journals are just great for giving regular recurring feedback and for consolidating and reviewing cumulative knowledge gained throughout an academic year. But did you know that Learning Journals save you many a supervised detention too?

Many schools provide homework timetables for students and teachers to follow. With the very best of intentions, these timetables aim to distribute student and teacher workload evenly and fairly. However, they can prove difficult to follow when units include different intensities of work, and when school events get in the way.

Set Learning Journals as homework each week. The basic idea is that students buy their own notebook and fill it with colorful revision notes on a weekly basis (although they can be done online too: through Google Sites, for example). Perhaps your Year 10 class could hand-in their learning journals in every Wednesday, and collect them from you (with feedback written inside, see the articles cited above) every Friday. By setting up a register of collection that the students sign, you can easily see who hasn’t handed in their journal that week.

Then……follow the guidelines given above for dealing with late or un-submitted homework. You’ll find that after a few weeks of initiating Learning Journals you’ll get a near 100% hand-in rate, because the students are really clear about what is expected each week, because it is a recurring homework. 

Whole school  considerations

Many schools adopt a popular (but massively problematic) ‘mass-detention’ system of some sort, which works something like this:

• The student receives the requisite number of ‘warnings’ in a particular lesson which lead to a break or lunch time detention being given
• The student is sent to a room with other students from the school who’ve also received detentions
• Teachers supervise the ‘detention room’ on a rotating basis, thereby (in theory), sharing the workload across the staff body
• The students are given generic tasks to do during the detention time, which may include filling in a form, completing homework or in the very worst cases just sitting still and being quiet for twenty minutes or so.

The problem with systems like this is that they are not personal to the students receiving the detentions. They do not follow the ‘golden rule’: that detentions should address or solve the problem that they were given for .

What’s much more effective in the long-term is to trust individual teachers to administer their own detentions. Perhaps provide a quick training session based on good practice (feel free to use this article if you wish), and allow the teachers to then use their judgement to decide when and how detentions should be given.

Student detentions are only effective when they have the ‘ personal touch’ . When detentions address the original issue by allowing more time to complete homework or classwork, or allow for a one-on-one discussion about behaviour, the following magical things happen:

• The detention is given from a standpoint of care and concern, not confrontation and aggression
• Students realise the reason why the detention was given as this reason is reinforced by the activities given during the time of the detention
• Students improve. It’s that simple. Mass detention systems rarely work because they don’t pinpoint the personal reasons behind why the student is under-performing. Detentions with the ‘ personal touch’ cause students to realise their errors and most, if not all, will improve in a short space of time. 

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Author: richardjamesrogers

High School Science and Mathematics Teacher, Author and Blogger. Graduated from Bangor University with a BSc (Hons) degree in Molecular Biology and a PGCE in Secondary Science Education. Richard also holds the coveted Certificate in Mathematics from the Open University (UK). Richard is the award-winning author of The Quick Guide to Classroom Management: 45 Secrets That All High School Teachers Need to Know View All Posts

2 thoughts on “ The Effective Use of Detentions ”

• Pingback: When Kids Don’t Return Homework – What can we do?

Is it acceptable and legal to make students clean the school windows as a detention task ? It happened in my child’s school and parents did not complain but I am concerned this is abuse of power

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Detention Work Behavior Reflection Sheet - Student Behavior Essays

What educators are saying

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Description

Even though teachers work hard to make their classrooms a positive place, after other interventions have taken place there are occasions when detention is a necessary consequence for inappropriate behavior. To keep the onus where it belongs (on the student), use these editable compositions to help students reflect on their behavior.

These compositions are like letters for the student to copy that explain their misdeed, why the behavior is inappropriate, and how to correct it in the future. Then there is a place for the student and the student's parent/guardian to sign.

Students who have already been given an opportunity to make a better choice and perhaps even a phone call home could be assigned these compositions as a "take-home" detention. There's no reason for detention to take up a teacher's time! Plus these are great for documenting your attempts to help correct a student's behavior.

There are 14 EDITABLE compositions including:

✅ Tardiness

✅ Cheating on a test

✅ Cheating by copying someone else's work

✅ Not following directions

✅ Disrespect

✅ Improper behavior with a substitute

✅ Skipping class

✅ Disrupting the class

✅ Inappropriate language (cursing)

✅ Dress Code

✅ Failure to complete classwork

✅ Failure to complete homework

✅ Sleeping in class

✅ Failure to be dependable in a group work situation

You'll get a copy of each composition in an editable PowerPoint.

Please see the preview! :)

TEACHERS LIKE YOU SAID:

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Brandy B. said, "I really like this resource. Unfortunately, discipline comes along with classroom management because students do not always use the best judgment. This resource allowed me to tailor it to my classroom and provides my students with a reflection on using better judgment."

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Laura M. said, "I LOVE these resources! I was able to modify it to meet the needs of my students, their parents, and my classes. I added a reflection paragraph to the end for my students to examine their own behaviors and the impact those behaviors had."

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Jennifer H. said, "I have duty for detention each week. These editable files gave me something for my students to do in detention that makes them reflect on their behavior."

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Detention/Reflective/Ctizenship tasks

Subject: Citizenship

Age range: 14-16

Resource type: Worksheet/Activity

Last updated

2 September 2014

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Thank you, this is a much more reflective exercise than anything we currently do. I will use this in my next detention supervision session.

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Still Giving Detention? Here Are 5 Better Alternatives

Detention usually doesn’t work. Here is what does.

All too often, when a student misbehaves in class, they are sent to the front office, an administrator assigns a detention, and the instance gets swept under the rug. The teacher is left assuming that the student showed up for their punishment and that sitting in a quiet place for an hour after school “fixed” the problem. However, more often than not, the detention doesn’t work . Those of us who manage the detention hall see the same kids every week, making it clear that repeat offenders are not learning from this discipline practice. Schools need to  evaluate the effectiveness  of detention and begin searching for alternatives to detention. Here are five effective ways to correct student behavior without using detention.

1. Stop bad behavior before it starts.

This may seem obvious, but sometimes the key to curtailing misbehavior is addressing it before it happens. Take instructional time to work on soft skills that lead to better behavior. Especially at the secondary level, it is easy to take for granted that students know how to act in a classroom. Some just haven’t figured it all out yet. One thing I have done in my classes that works is bringing in a counselor, teacher, or administrator and role-playing conflict resolution and problem-solving techniques. We use real-world scenarios and model positive reactions to them for students.

For example, in my class we do a lot of collaborative projects. One issue that commonly pops up is that one person dominates the conversation, asserting their ideas over those of others. This can lead to heated moments that can get out of hand. So I bring in a colleague, and we discuss an actual upcoming unit, set up a college visit, or brainstorm the next school event—something to model professional collaboration. We always start with modeling the wrong behavior, demonstrating the incorrect way to handle an argument. Then we show a balanced, collaborative approach. Students get to see proper behavior and learn the importance of these skills, and teachers can then refer back to them throughout the year. When students see positive behavior modeled for them, they learn the expectations and work to achieve them.

2. Hold a lunch workshop instead of a lunch detention.

One way to help students actually learn and take away meaning from their mistakes is through a lunch workshop. At my school, we have a counselor who meets with students one day per week during the student’s lunch. Teachers and administrators can refer a student to this, and students are notified from the office that they are scheduled for a workshop. On that day, students have to report to the counseling office, their lunch is already there (so students don’t wander around or waste time in the lunch line), and they begin immediately.

Our counselor runs the miniworkshop, focusing on a particular character-development issue such as overcoming adversity, surrounding yourself with positive people, or developing a growth mindset . It’s important to note that for this to work, the topics need to be genuine. She talks to the students for roughly 15 minutes while they eat and listen. They then discuss or write about the takeaways they have. Lunch workshops often lead to deep discussions about issues these students are actually struggling with. They also help students build a connection with our counselor. Lastly, they cause students to miss their free time at lunch, which no student wants to do. So while still having an aspect of detention, the time is at least constructive.

3. Have students write reflections.

This is similar to the lunch workshop model, but it doesn’t require a staff member to set up additional time in their schedule. If a student has a regular issue of misbehavior, teachers can have them write about it and reflect on the issue. I have found that when it comes to assigning written reflections, things need to be authentic. If students feel like this is just a hoop they have to jump through to get out of trouble, it will not help. Instead, respond to what the student says (in writing or verbally) and engage with them about what they wrote.

Giving students an opportunity to reflect and be heard not only curbs future negative behavior but also grows your relationship with them. So the next time Johnny acts out in class, instead of just removing him and putting him in ISS or detention, have him write about it. You might just learn that he is truly struggling with something at home and needs help. Set up a time to meet with him and help him. Turn a negative into a positive.

4. Bring in after-school support (coaches, club advisors, directors).

One of the best tools educators have is the availability to bridge the gap from the school day to extracurricular activities. Now this doesn’t help with all students since not everyone is involved in something after school. However, for those who are, this can work great. As a coach myself, I want to know that my players are representing the team well during the school day. If they aren’t, I have the ability to talk to them and relate how their actions have an impact outside the classroom.

I also have the option of making a student sit during a game or even kicking them off the team. For most students, just being aware of these consequences help things “click.” Teachers and administrators should not be afraid to reach out to these supports both during or after the season or event. Plus, as coaches, we have a few more forms of punishments at our disposal. (Running up and down bleachers, anyone?)

5. Reward positive behavior!

Part of the issue schools run into is that we get so caught up cracking down on the negative, that we overlook the fact that 99 percent of the students are doing exactly what they are supposed to be doing. Why not reward those who are being model students? Give them athletic passes, partner with local businesses for discounts and freebies to distribute, reach out to sports teams for tickets, or give special parking opportunities. There are so many ways we can encourage positive choices rather than just punishing the negative ones. At first, this may produce surface level behaviors from some of the more difficult students. But over time, it will become an ingrained trait.

For instance, one issue that we wanted to address in a positive way at my school was how to encourage school pride. So for our home football games we created themes for our student sections. One theme was Hawaiian luau. In the week leading up to the big game, we gave out free leis and luau garb to students doing the right things, like not having their phones out in the hallway. Not only did this reward positive behavior, it also built school pride and was fun! While not a huge or expensive prize, students were motivated by it and appreciated being recognized.

Don’t just expect students to outgrow troubling behaviors by putting them into a silent room. Our goal as educators is to prepare students for what lies ahead. By using alternatives to detention, we can help students prepare for the real world while still holding them accountable for their shortcomings.

And as a bonus, you will never again have to send an email pleading for someone to cover detention duty.

Join the great conversations going on about school leadership in our Facebook groups  Principal Life   and  High School Principal Life .

Plus, check out this article about restorative practices.

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Posted on October 4, 2016 by confidentparentsconfidentkids

50 Constructive Alternatives to Detention or Punishment

Ideas for parents and educators.

“Are you okay, E?” I overheard a concerned classmate ask my son as he walked out of the school building yesterday at pick up time. “I’m okay.” he assured the friend. In my head, I was saying “Uh-oh!” bracing myself for the unknown challenge ahead. I ditched my errand-running plans and headed straight to the ice cream store to get provisions for our conversation hoping to channel the clarity of focus that only ice cream can bring. He relayed the story calmly. “Our class was coming back to our room from gym. Sarah (that’s what we’ll call her) was trying to push her way to the front. I was at the beginning of the line and she grabbed my arm and scraped her fingernails down it.” He extended his forearm and revealed two lines of broken skin, red and raw, from his elbow down to his wrist. After washing and treating it, I asked how he had responded and then, how the school had responded. E had said back to Sarah after the scratch “I have to tell the teacher.” And he did. “We were both sent to the principal’s office.” he said.

E continued to tell me about how Sarah lied to the principal and said he had scratched her. But the evidence gave her away. And E was excused while Sarah stayed with the principal. This is Sarah’s third offense that I have personally witnessed. While volunteering at lunch, I saw her hit a girl in the face. While volunteering in the classroom, I saw her kick a boy in the back. We – my family – are a part of a safe, caring, connected school community that does the best they can for children. But when a bullying or other misbehavior occurs, there are only a few options that are taken. I have spent time in a diverse range of schools across the U.S. and this one example of how problems are dealt with is commonplace. The frequent response is 1.) give a warning (move a clip to red or get a hash mark or a name written on the board), 2.) send offender to the principal’s office for a conversation (and/or scolding), 3.) give detention (held after school typically with nothing to do but to stare or do homework), and finally, 4.) call home.

If these interventions have taken place and the child continues to misbehave, what are we doing about it? How are we looking into the child’s life and trying to understand what emotional needs are not being met? How are we examining what social and emotional skills need practice – in Sarah’s case – impulse control and appropriate expressions of anger – so that they are ready when they feel overcome by their feelings?

I know from experience that when a child is attacked verbally or physically, they are nursing their wounds for the rest of the day. And the learning that would have occurred is just not possible. And for the instigator, she’s been scolded or given detention. She is not learning either. And classmates who witness the event and are concerned about their friend are also not learning. So – bottom line – our ability to focus and deal with these occurrences directly impacts academics.

After E had gone to bed, I began writing about what’s wrong with “it all” which I immediately crumpled and tossed in the bin. I quickly realized that was not the way I want to contribute to my son, to my school and to you. So instead, I took a constructive approach with my upset energy. I developed a list of fifty alternatives to detention or punishment that have the potential to truly help the child who is clearly crying for help when she misbehaves. It will require a little more thought on our part, a change of our reactive habits. Yelling at a child will not do the job. But if we place our curious minds on the problem, we can do so much more for those children who desperately need us. We need to regularly recognize the misbehaving child’s signal. She is sending out an “SOS!” “Help me! I’m hurting!” say her actions. But so frequently our responses do not address her needs. How can we adjust our ways of thinking and reacting so that we meet children where they are? Before sharing the list of interventions, there are some key questions we can ask when situations like this occur. These questions can apply to parents and educators alike. Next time your child or a student in your classroom harms another person or property, consider the following.

• What is the child (who has misbehaved) feeling?
• Do we understand the origins of why she is upset?
• What emotional needs are going unmet in her?
• Does she know what to do and where to go when she is upset? Does she have an outlet for her strong emotions? What social and emotional skill(s) does she need practice with? And can the whole class or the whole family benefit from practicing that same skill (like self-management)?
• Does she have an attachment to one caring adult – at school, at home? If not, how can you help cultivate one?
• What plan or intervention will not only stop the behavior but also, teach skills?
• How can the parent and teacher work together to play a supportive role?

And now, check out this list of 50 alternative interventions.

Parents and Educators can guide the child to:

1. Write down all of the things he loves or that make him feel safe.

2. Create a safe base for him to go to when he’s upset.

3. Practice deep breathing. Try out teddy bear, ocean wave, or  hot chocolate breathing.

4. Run, jump, get exercise.

5. Do a headstand.

6. Cry, talk aloud privately in a sound-proof music room.

7. Write in a journal.

8. Use a handout to guide reflection.  I’ve created one for your use.

9. Talk to a caring adult who will listen with compassion.

10. Talk to a caring peer who will listen with compassion.

11. Go to a peer mediator who can facilitate working through conflicts. (School can train students.)

12. Walk outside.

13. Brainstorm ways to heal the hurt caused.

14. Sweep or clean the environment (not as punishment but as a contribution to the classroom – repairing harm and getting out physical energy too.).

15. Paint or draw.

16. Listen to beautiful music on headphones.

17. Watch video of kids’ breathing.

18. Watch video of kids doing service.

19. Make a contribution list of all the ways you can contribute to others.

20. Brainstorm ways to directly help a classmate, parent or teacher.

21. Teach a younger child ways they can express anger without harming another. Roar? Stomp? Breathe?

22. Create characters for your emotions (such as in the movie, “Inside Out.”).

23. Retrace steps. Role play alternative choices.

24. Read a book about expressing anger. Ask, “How do you want to express anger without harming others?” (such as, “ When Sophie Gets Angry – Really, Really Angry.” )

25. Run hands under warm water. Listen.

26. Create emotion room or space for being alone with feelings.

27. Dance with music and/or with a music video.

28. Play instrument.

29. Read about characters with similar feelings and similar challenges.

30. Examine gratefulness. What do you like about your family? What do you like about school, your teacher, your classmates?

31. Imagine what gift you could give the class or your family that would be uniquely from you. Draw it or write about it.

32. Think of a person who you admire. What about them do you admire? What would they do in this situation? What would be their next choice? Write.

33. Practice forgiveness. Reflect on those that have hurt you. Write names, reasons they might have hurt you and try to understand the others’ perspective.

34. Create a new choice or set of choices.

35. Make reparation with the guidance of a caring adult. How can a new choice help heal the relationship?

36. Talk about hopes and dreams and what actions will help you reach them.

37. Write a new ending to the story of what happened. Could you make a new choice that replicates the story you created?

38. Set a goal to do twice as many positive actions and name them.

39. Share with a feelings buddy (could be a friend or a stuffed animal).

40. Talk to or pet a gentle animal.

41. Practice impulse control . Look for small ways with the whole class/family to practice waiting.

42. Talk privately with a trained professional – a counselor, psychologist or social worker.

43. Create an anti-bullying poster.

44. Contribute to lunch preparation or clean up with a kind lunch lady.

45. Talk with a caring adult who uses coaching questions.

46. Employ restorative justice. “You break it, you fix it.”  If you’ve hurt another’s feelings, how are you going to make it up to that person? If you’ve destroyed property, how will you replace it, repair it or work on it?

47. Ask child/student to do teacher/parent a favor and help out. Set them up in another room to cut out shapes or do some activity that directly contributes to the class but allows child his own space away from the classroom for a time.

48. Keep a journal for each student/child in which they can write reflections and action plans anytime they are upset.

49. Meet with both parent and teacher to express concern, show support and work to understand child’s needs.

50. Plan for re-entry into the classroom or family community if child has taken time away. How will he reconnect with others? How can the adults show he is welcomed back? How can he make amends and communicate with the one he hurt?

I’ve placed these fifty ideas in a pdf document in case you’d like to print it and hang on a bulletin board or refrigerator as a reminder. Recognizing when children are really trying to make changes is critical if we are to support those improvements. “I notice you held the door today for others.” is all the encouragement that is needed. If we are truly attempting to raise and educate responsible individuals, then reflection on feelings and actions and offering choices on making amends are the vehicles that will empower children to repair harm, internally (healing their own wounds) and externally (assisting others).

For more on this topic, check out the article:

“This School Replaced Detention with Meditation. The Results Are Stunning.”  by James Gaines

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Category: Building a Positive Family Environment , Modeling Social and Emotional Skills , Practicing Social and Emotional Skills Tags: alternatives to yelling , Bullying , constructive alternatives to punishment , dealing with bullying , dealing with child misbehaviors , Developmental discipline , Parent educators tools for discipline , Positive Discipline

20 Comments on “50 Constructive Alternatives to Detention or Punishment”

Good! Good! Good!!!!!! L,M On Oct 4, 2016, at 12:37 PM, confident parents confident kids wrote:

Thanks, thanks, thanks! 🙂

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Great article. I have shared it with my readers.

Wonderful! Thanks for sharing!

You know what I love most about this article? Not just that you turned your frustration into something truly positive and helpful, but also that most of these strategies would work for adults too (me included)!

Starla, Just read and loved your post this morning (comment to come!). Thanks so much! You are right – I was frustrated and it turned out, it was easy to come up with fifty positive steps. So often, we think about what we don’t want to do but don’t have an alternative. Thanks for your comment and happy NYC days! 🙂

By the way, I hadn’t thought of the strategies for adults but looked back through after you mentioned it and you are right. I’ll keep the list for my own purposes too. Good point!

This is truely a very good concept which must be utilized.

Yes, agreed! It does require some thinking and planning ahead. But I think if we consider what challenges arise for us with our children consistently, we can better plan for how we will respond in ways that teach constructive responses and social and emotional skills. Thanks for your comment! All the best!

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Good explanation i get something though better to use pictures

Thanks so much for your feedback. Will work on more pictures and visual explanations! Best!

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Watch CBS News

Attack plan against Fort Worth middle school included police location, training with weapons

By Jason Allen

Updated on: May 11, 2024 / 1:36 PM CDT / CBS Texas

FORT WORTH – An attack plan against Truett Wilson Middle School included notes on where the closest police station was and details about practicing with guns and knives and training for war, according to portions of an investigative report read in court by a judge Friday.

Judge Alex Kim ordered two 14-year-old boys facing a felony charge of terroristic threat to be held in detention. He allowed a 13-year-old boy accused to return home after his attorney raised questions about how much the boy was involved in the planning.

The stepmother of one of the boys charged, described as a ringleader, said she was the one who discovered some of the subjects he had been searching online and first alerted officials at the middle school  in the Northwest ISD last week.

The school district told parents in a letter that an online document with shared access included a watch list with the names of 25 students and seven staff members.

All three of the boys appeared with their parents by their side Friday and had little to add that would explain what had led to the creation of the plan.

"Never would we have expected this to happen," said a mother of one of the boys. "We have no words."

Along with the discussion of weapons, Judge Kim read a section of the report that said one of the boys wrote in emails that "Lucifer" was talking to him and had told him to take revenge against those who had wronged them.

Both 14-year-old boys had been evaluated for mental health disorders. One had been previously diagnosed with depression but was not receiving treatment.

The boy stood silently in court, in a navy blue suit, while Judge Kim read from reports that said he had been suspended for fighting twice and had been caught bringing alcohol to school.

The other boy, wearing a red flannel shirt and jeans, had reportedly been aggressive with a faculty member in the past. Recently, he had threatened a sibling with a knife.

"Was this just 13- or 14-year-old shenanigans?" Judge Kim asked rhetorically about the attack plan. 

Before deciding to detain them, he told them he was concerned they may follow through with their plans given the opportunity before deciding to detain them.

Frank Adler, an attorney for the youngest boy, said his client had accessed and edited the "Watch list" contained in the online attack plan, but only to remove the name of a family member from the list. Investigative reports didn't offer any more clarity on the boy's involvement, according to Judge Kim, who said he didn't think the boy had actually threatened to harm anybody.

He did tell him that he hopes what the boy takes away is "see something, say something."

The portions of the report read aloud mentioned investigators had also spoken to other students at the school, who mentioned overhearing the two 14-year-olds talking about shootings and bombings. However, there was no mention of any of those students previously reporting what they had heard.

• North Texas

Jason, a Southern California native, came to North Texas after working as a reporter for four years in Orlando. He received his bachelor's degree in communication arts from Trinity Christian College in Palos Heights, Illinois, and then began his career as a producer/reporter at Primary Focus. Jason went on to work as a reporter/anchor at KTWO-TV in Casper, Wyoming, and later as a reporter at WBAY-TV in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

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Who are ISIS-K, the group linked to the Moscow concert hall terror attack?

I SIS claimed responsibly for Friday’s deadly assault on a concert venue in Moscow, releasing graphic footage purporting to show its gunmen carrying out what was Russia’s worst terror attack in decades.

Russian authorities have accused four men from the former Soviet republic of Tajikistan of being behind the attack, which left at least  137 people  dead and more than 100 injured. The suspects, who are charged with committing a terrorist act and face possible life imprisonment, have been remanded into pre-trial detention through May 22 after appearing in court in Moscow on Sunday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that “radical Islamists” carried out the assault, but also claimed without proof that a “window” had been prepared for the attackers to escape to Ukraine. Kyiv has denied the allegations.

US officials have tied the attack to ISIS-K, an affiliate that operates in central Asia, which has become one of the region’s most brutal and feared terror groups.

Since November, the US has received a stream of intelligence that ISIS-K was determined to mount an attack in Russia, sources told CNN, and passed those warnings on to Moscow. US Vice President Kamala Harris said Sunday that “what we know to be the case is that ISIS-K is actually, by all accounts responsible for what happened.”

Here’s what we know about ISIS-K.

Who are ISIS-K?

ISIS-K was formed in 2015 and has been active in Afghanistan , Pakistan and Iran. It is a branch of ISIS, the terror group that emerged in Syria and Iraq and, at its peak, controlled a huge stretch of territory.

Five years since the fall of ISIS’ self-proclaimed caliphate across Iraq and Syria, the group has morphed into a terror network with cells spread around the world, including in Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia and Southeast Asia.

The connection between ISIS-K and its apparent parent group is not entirely clear. The affiliates share an ideology and tactics, but the depth of their relationship – such as the chain of command and control – has never been fully established.

By 2018, ISIS-K was ranked the world’s fourth-deadliest terror group,  according to  the Institute for Economics and Peace, which monitors global terrorism.

The Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, and the withdrawal of US troops from the country, thrust ISIS-K into the global spotlight – especially after the group orchestrated a deadly bombing outside Kabul airport  that killed 13 US military personnel and 170 Afghans.

It was ISIS-K’s most globally consequential action to date and drew a promise of retribution  from US President Joe Biden.

The United Nations estimated in 2021 that the group has up to 2,200 core fighters based in Afghanistan’s Kunar and Nangarhar provinces.

What do they want?

Like its parent organization, ISIS-K aims to create a “pure Islamic state,” according to CSIS – describing the group’s vision of a “global, transnational caliphate” governed by Sharia law.

ISIS-K has a mutual hatred of the Taliban and attracts those with views even more radical than the Islamist group that rules Afghanistan. It refuses to acknowledge the Taliban as a legitimate Islamic leader because it relies on a narrow base “instead of committing to a universal Islamic jihad,” according to CSIS.

As such, ISIS-K’s recent attacks have largely been aimed at the Taliban and other symbolic targets, as well as at Afghanistan’s Shia Muslim minorities , in particular the ethnic Hazaras.

The group’s hatred of the West, including the United States, Britain and Europe, also features prominently in their agenda – as does its enmity toward Russia.

Why did they attack Russia?

ISIS has a longstanding animosity against Russia and Putin, several experts told CNN.

“Russia has been at the top or near the top of the list of ISIS for many years,” said Daniel Byman, director of Georgetown University’s security studies program. He pointed to Moscow’s crucial role in the Syrian civil war, when it intervened in support of the Syrian government and against ISIS.

ISIS-K has also criticized the Taliban for being “too close to Russia,” Byman added.

There are other historical grievances, too. ISIS propaganda has long targeted Russia for its brutal tactics in the various Chechen wars, and its scorched-earth policies in the Caucasus affecting Eastern European and Eurasian Muslims, according to John Miller, CNN’s chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst.

In 2022, ISIS-K claimed responsibility for a suicide blast near Russia’s embassy in Kabul, which killed six people, including two consular staff.

Over the past month, Russia has thwarted several ISIS-related incidents, according to state-run news agency RIA Novosti. At least four incidents in March alone have been reported across Russia that local authorities said involved people connected to ISIS, RIA reported.

Russian state media  reported  on March 7 that the FSB, Russia’s security service, prevented an ISIS attack on a synagogue in Moscow, according to Reuters. The ISIS attackers were killed in a gunfight, the reports said.

What other attacks are they responsible for?

To date, the majority of ISIS-K’s most devastating attacks have been in Afghanistan and Pakistan – the Kabul airport blast being a prominent example.

Others include a May 2020  attack  on a Kabul maternity ward that killed 24 people and an  attack  on Kabul University in November 2020 that killed 22, according to CSIS. ISIS-K was also believed to be behind a horrific car bombing outside  a girls’ high school  in May 2021 that killed at least 85 people.

The group was particularly active during its peak around 2018 – when an ISIS-K suicide bomber killed 128 people at an election rally in Mastung, Pakistan, one of the bloodiest attacks anywhere in the world that year.

While it’s no longer as strong as it was in 2018, ISIS-K continues to plan attacks in Afghanistan. It is the most active terror group in the country, responsible for 73 deaths in 2023, according to the Institute for Economics and Peace.

Could they pose a broader global threat?

The Kabul airport attack had raised global concerns that ISIS-K could pose a major threat across the region and beyond.

In March 2023, the head of the US Central Command told lawmakers that ISIS-K was becoming more emboldened, and that Europe or Asia were more likely targets for terrorist attacks originating in Afghanistan than the US.

In a 2023 threat assessment report by US intelligence agencies, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said ISIS-K “almost certainly retains the intent to conduct operations in the West and will continue efforts to attack outside Afghanistan.”

And earlier this year , the UN Security Council warned in a report that ISIS-K was planning or conducting “operational plots” in Europe. Seven people linked to the group were arrested in Germany last year while planning for “high-impact terrorist attacks,” including obtaining weapons and possible targets, the council said.

It is not the first time that ISIS has struck a concert venue. In November 2015, ISIS gunmen attacked the Bataclan theater in Paris – part of an assault that hit other targets in the city – killing at least 130 people. In May 2017, the group claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester Arena, England, that killed 22 people. ISIS has also inspired terrorists in the US, including the gunman who killed 49 people at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, in 2016 in what was then the most lethal terrorist attack in the US since 9/11.

Earlier this month, the US government had information about a planned terrorist attack in Moscow – potentially targeting large gatherings, to include concerts – which prompted the State Department to issue a public advisory to Americans in Russia. The US also shared this information with Russian authorities.

The intelligence that Washington had been getting since November was “fairly specific” and the US intelligence community warned Russia, but it’s not clear if this is directly tied to the March 7 warning by the US embassy in Moscow.

Putin rejected the US embassy warnings about terror attacks as “provocative” in a speech to the FSB, saying they “resemble outright blackmail and the intention to intimidate and destabilize our society.”

CNN’s Rob Picheta, Eliza Mackintosh, Ehsan Popalzai, Antonio Jarne, Lou Robinson, Lauren Said-Moorhouse, Mariya Knight, Anna Chernova and Darya Tarasova contributed to this report.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com

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School Counseling Technician - James River HS

Chesterfield County Public Schools , Midlothian, VA