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"D Hall" Was Just A Rest Period, Unitl I took Over!

One of my weekly or bi-weekly tasks, during my long-term subbing assignment at Kirby Junior High, was to monitor "D" or Detention Hall. When my duty came around I found it to be very unpleasant due to the lax nature in which it had been run. With different teachers imposing and/or enforcing different rules, I found it to be ineffective as a deterrent to the rampant malicious hooliganism that raged in the halls and classrooms. Actually, the school was not bad at all, but I love using that term.

The big problem, as I saw it, was that too many students, with the encouragement of many teachers, mistook D Hall for Study Hall. They came to D Hall to work on their homework, read, talk, giggle and just hang out. D Hall, to most, was just a minor inconvenience. It meant 30 to 45 minutes extra time at school instead of at home. Who cares, especially when all your partners in crime are in D Hall too. It was time to network!

My self-appointed task was to add a little discomfort to D Hall. But I realized that this would not work very well with an appearance just once or twice in a 10-day period. So I went to the principal with my idea and volunteered to take the D Hall assignment every day. I got no argument from the other teachers.

On Day #1 of my experiment I stood in the D Hall room doorway and barked commands as each kid entered to be signed in. "Go to a seat, sit down, put your books under the desk, and wait for my instructions".

Once all the kids were in and accounted for, I proceeded to give them the happy news in a loud, booming, Boot Camp fashion.

"D Hall is no longer Study Hall. You broke the rules and now it's time to pay. Reading and doing homework is not punishment. From now on, D Hall is punishment."

- - Books on the floor or under the desk
- - Sit up straight
- - Hands on top of your desk
- - Eyes front and looking at the spot drawn on the board
- - After 10 minutes of sitting you will stand for 5
- - Giggle and it's "on your feet"!
- - Talk and it's "on your feet"!
- - Look around and it's "on your feet"!

After ten minutes had passed, "Everybody, stand up and continue looking straight ahead!" After five minutes of standing they were allowed to sit down.

"You, yes, I mean you; why are you looking at me? Back on your feet!"

"You, over there, you think it's funny? You can get back on your feet, too!"

It wasn't long before the news spread that the "D" in D Hall wasn't just "detention" anymore, it was more like "DISTRESS". As I predicted, attendance began to drop.

Maynard