Phoenix Military Military (PMA) is known to be a highly respected and not to mention disciplined school. But how far can they go to assure this? Lately, PMA has been holding “lunch detentions” as their last resort to discipline the children. Right before class, a staff member is sent classroom to classroom all over the 4 story building to gather kids so they can be  isolated in a room with mini snacks, like a peanut butter sandwich and a carton of milk during the half of hour lunch. Of course, compared to suspending them, repeatedly calling home or much worse, the idea does not sound too bad. Well I would say, every student does not use their lunch time just to eat. It is usually used as a study hall. Although 30 minutes is definitely not enough, it   can be used very well in cases where you cannot stay after school.

Also I would say, there are two sides to every story: why are the students receiving the detention? Sometimes the situation can be handled with a phone call home or just a little conversation instead of just slamming them with such punishment.

Many students at PMA never get the chance to eat because they have so much  on their hands when they are forced to balance work, school and many other things that sometimes those small little lunches don’t help. A small snack for their detention does not compare to the lunch that they receive in the cafeteria. They get a choice to decide whether  they want pizza with salad and a slushie or nachos with a fruit and a chocolate chip cookie. That peanut butter and jelly sandwich they are forced to eat may be their last meal of the day because they have to go straight to work and then straight home because everything is closed already.

The lunch detention may seem like the best approach, but think about the students as an individual and think what that 30 minutes could have been  for them.