Detentions That Offer Health Benefits

Marilyn Svaluto, principal of Davidson Middle School in Southgate, Michigan has instituted an after-school detention program that promotes physical education and fitness for middle level students serving detentions. Her innovative approach to school detentions is outlined in the January 2005 issue of the Principal Leadership Magazine. This publication is offered by the National Association of Secondary Principals.

Davidson Middle School administrators and faculty decided to incorporate an exercise regimen as part of their after school detention program after realizing that 13% to 14% of all children in America are overweight and that many children are being diagnosed at early ages for such diseases as Type 2 diabetes. Newly purchased exercise technology at Davidson Middle School reinforced the decision to begin the program.

The new detention program became known as the Walking for Fitness (WF-2) detention. This type of detention provides an opportunity to do measurable activities while students are detained after school. "Instead of detaining a student and requiring him or her to sit quietly and be monitored by a detention supervisor, the student is now involved in a personal fitness experience."

Students in WF-2 detentions must walk until they elevate their heart rate to the target zone and keep it there for the assigned time. The school hallways are used as an indoor track for students to exercise away wrongdoings.

The heart rate monitor becomes the detention supervisor. If a student attempts to slack off, the monitor will not credit time in the target zone. To successfully serve the detention a student must show he or she has achieved 35 minutes in the heart target zone for first-time detentions. Five minute incremental increases are required for subsequent detentions.

A majority of the students support the program. "Although most students feel that a WF-2 detention is still a deterrent to misbehavior, they also feel that the new detention format allows them to learn new things about physical fitness. As a result, many of the students seem less hostile to WF-2 as a consequence to misbehavior."

Parents have been equally supportive. Most indicated no objection to their child's participation. In a questionnaire sent home to parents of students who received detentions, parents said they liked the connection between the punishment and the detention.

Surveyed teachers also endorsed the program saying that the new approach helped fight the obesity epidemic. Teachers also liked knowing that students were engaged in a measurable activity during detention instead of just sitting and idly passing time.

Advantage Press praises the efforts of Davidson Middle School to improve physical fitness for those serving detentions. After students have walked off their detention we would suggest they then take some time to understand why they got the detention in the first place. Assigning one of our topic specific detention learning packets as a follow-up homework assignment might help students realize what went wrong in the first place and prevent a re-occurrence. We would recommend that Davidson Middle School take the next step and have students reflect on their misbehavior as a way to prevent future mistakes. Packets could be assigned as homework by the detention supervisor.

Advantage Press creates Discipline Learning Packets for students in grades 2-12. Each packet focuses on the misbehavior and stresses the importance of positive behavior. We offer detention, suspension, motivation and bully packets. Discipline lessons help prevent repeat offenses, serve as documentation and provide meaningful and consistent consequences. Motivation lessons provide encouragement and a reason for students to move forward.

For more information about the childhood obesity epidemic there are two excellent websites to visit. The American Public Health Association offers information on understanding and preventing obesity through physical activity and nutrition and provides links to related sites for children, teachers and parents.

Another good source of information is the American Obesity Association's website. Here you can learn more about the prevalence and identification of childhood obesity.

School districts across the country have already taken positive steps to combat childhood obesity by banning the sale of soda. The average teen gulps down two cans of soda every day for an extra 2,100 calories a week. Instead of offering soda many schools are beginning to stock their vending machines with milk, bottled water and fruit juices that are low in sugar content.