Detention is a form of punishment used in schools, where a student is required to spend extra time in school. A detention usually takes place during a period after the end of the school day. However, other times may also be used such as before the school day, weekend, and breaks in the school day, such as lunch.
A detention is typically carried out in a room that offers no amenities for leisure, so that students serving detention will have no outlet to distract them from their punishment. The students are usually monitored by a teacher, and may be required to either bring homework, sit quietly, or perform some punitive or non-punitive task, usually to decrease boredom. Such tasks may take the form of housekeeping, such as clapping blackboard erasers or picking up litter; academic such as writing an essay or answering questions on why the detention was given, or copying out paragraphs from a text, or writing out lines.
Detention is usually considered to be one the milder punishments available to a school. Multiple detentions may be given as for more severe offences. However, if detention fails to cure the student's behavior, and for more severe behavior, harsher punishments such as suspension, or expulsion may be used.