Suspension from school

[Pembo]

If your child got suspended from school, what would you do with him or her all day? Especially if both parents have to work?

 

[mamacatnv]

I have the ability to take mine to work
Otherwise DH and I would do what we used to do when they were sick, split up the day.
Depending on age and offense I might be inclined to leave child at home with a list of chores etc.

 

[design_mom]

Yikes. I guess one of us would have to take the day off -- or find a babysitter. Whatever the option, I'd make sure the day wasn't fun.

What grade is your child in? My high-school had in-school suspension. The suspended person had to sit at a study carroll in the office all day. I thought that sounded like a good punishment. Can you imagine how boring that would be? Does your school have an in-school option?

 

[NHdisneylover]

Not much info to go on in your OP. Generally, for a child old enough to stay home I would leave him/her home with a long list of chores to complete and probably remove any fun eletronics, cell phone, etc from the house as well. Soda and junk foods as well. Nothing fun about the day.
For a younger child I guess I would take a day off or hire someone to babysit. I would still make sure there was nothing fun about the day and a list of shores to complete.

I think I would also insist the child be up, dressed and ready at the same time as s/he would need to be for school. Anything else would have to depend on the circumstances involved.

 

[CathrynRose]

My high-school had in-school suspension. The suspended person had to sit at a study carroll in the office all day. I thought that sounded like a good punishment. Can you imagine how boring that would be? Does your school have an in-school option?

Yes - it's incredibly boring. I may have had it a few (dozen) times....

How old is the kid?

 

[dislaney]

I would have a very long list of chores for them to do and consequences if they weren't done.

 

[Pembo]

Junior high age and up

 

[luvsJack]

Well, sadly I have been there, done that and I took the day off and made ds wash windows all day. Not sure why, but he hated that chore the most. And when I say all day, I mean all day. From 7 am until after dark, he washed my windows, my mom's windows and my sister's windows. His arms were sore for a week!

 

[bettymae1121]

Assuming I had a job that I could take paid time off for, probably what others here have mentioned. I'd make sure it was a day full of tedious work. I'd let my kid know that this is the type of work they can expect to have after highschool if they keep screwing up, since no college will accept a disapline case. Even if the kid was old enough to stay home alone, I'd take time off anyway. Nothing like having a parent look over your sholder while polishing the silver to add an extra "something" to your punishment!

I'd also take away all video games, iPods, cell phones, and computer access (outside what is needed for school work) for the rest of the semester. Slip up again and it's all gone for good!

 

[wdwfan16]

DH or I would take off time and make him do chores all day long. We might even make up chores to do.

 

[kwelch10377]

If you or your husband couldn't take the day off to stay home with him or her and have him or her do chores at home, I would see if a relative or maybe even a close neighbor needed some chores done around there house and offer up his services free for the day in exchange for them keeping an eye on him or her.

 

[Tink888]

If your child got suspended from school, what would you do with him or her all day? Especially if both parents have to work?

I'm not sure I'd do much of anything. If they're old enough to be home alone, I'd go to work. I'd make him have his assignments for the time he was suspended and complete those. There would be no access to video games, ipod, or computers.

I don't think I'd be worried about filling the day with some type of work.....the suspension is going to come with an extended punishment from me also.....grounded, no access to electronics......so there would be plenty of time for me later to give him a laundry list of chores to do.

 

[Inigo]

If your child got suspended from school, what would you do with him or her all day? Especially if both parents have to work?

My kids would have been moving a hole from one side of the yard to the other. And once they got it moved, they'd move it back to the original location. I'd pay my elderly BIL to supervise.

*For those who don't get it, they'd dig a new hole on the far side of the yard, and carry the dirt, shovel by shovel, over to fill in the original hole. Then repeat, until the end of the school day.

Seriously.

 

[SC Minnie]

Junior high age and up

My house would be spotless. And it wouldn't be fun for the kiddo to clean the toilets and floors with an old toothbrush. There would be no TV, computer, cell phone, iPod, or anything to amuse said child at all. Once the cleaning was done I would get War and Peace and expect it to be read and have a 50 page (single spaced) report written before the suspension was over.

In other words their life would be miserable and no vacation. They would be begging to go back to school.

 

[golfgal]

I would have a very long list of chores for them to do and consequences if they weren't done.

My house would be spotless. And it wouldn't be fun for the kiddo to clean the toilets and floors with an old toothbrush. There would be no TV, computer, cell phone, iPod, or anything to amuse said child at all. Once the cleaning was done I would get War and Peace and expect it to be read and have a 50 page (single spaced) report written before the suspension was over.

In other words their life would be miserable and no vacation. They would be begging to go back to school.

 

[Mickey'snewestfan]

Or you could do what one of the parents of one of my students did -- take him skiing!

The child came back to school the next day and said "I don't have to listen to you, because if you suspend me again my dad will just do something fun with me again."

One of my other students got between me and the child and said "Your father is an idiot. I got suspended and my mom made me clean the bathroom with a toothbrush -- it was awful, but she's a smart mom because I've never been suspended again. Either your father doesn't love you or he's an idiot".

A few weeks later at the first kid's parent teacher conference the Dad complained that the child didn't have a lot of friends. I told him I agreed, and said "kids this age can be so cruel, the other day one of the students said " . . ." and I quoted the whole thing to him.

(A little background info -- parents were divorced. Dad was court ordered to pay for the private school of Mom's choice -- which was us. So, Dad went out of his way to encourage his kid to behave badly so that he'd get expelled. In this case, the child had thrown a brick at my head).

 

[C.Ann]

I always made a point of having the punishment somehow relate to the crime, so the "busy work" would somehow fall within those guidelines.. Say for example he/she was suspended for cheating.. He or she would get up and get dressed at their normal school time.. Then there would be loooooong essays assigned in on the topic of why people shouldn't cheat - written legibly in cursive - with proper spelling; punctuation;etc.. There would be handwritten apologies - to the teacher; the principal; you and your spouse (individually) as his or her parents.. Long handwritten examples of people in the news who have cheated in various ways - and what the outcome was when they were exposed.. Things along those lines.. And no - they would NOT be able to use the computer to type; research; spell check; etc..

That's just one example of how I would handle one particular offense.. If it were some other offense, I would come up with a similar way of making the punishment related to the crime..

Keeping him or her busy is definitely the right idea - however, I would make it more of an individualized type of punishment rather than just cleaning house; digging holes; etc..

 

[MushyMushy]

I always had a nice clean house when my son got suspended -- that, and he would get a week's grounding for every day of the suspension.

 

[a1tinkfans]

Well, sadly I have been there, done that and I took the day off and made ds wash windows all day. Not sure why, but he hated that chore the most. And when I say all day, I mean all day. From 7 am until after dark, he washed my windows, my mom's windows and my sister's windows. His arms were sore for a week!

Is he good at it? I'd hire him I HATE the windows!

Sorry your in that situation OP! I guess one of you would stay home, so NO free time at all for the kid!!

 

[locolala]

The one time I got out of school suspension, my dad went to the school and set it up so I wasn't out of school.. I went to all my classes as usual, except my dad went with me. Never got in trouble again. I'll do this with my daughter if need be. I like the idea of moving dirt from one side of the yard to the other too.