Suspension in boarding schools

[justcarol67]

Carol wrote:
> >
> > Recently, the main list has been discussing suspension in relation to Harry and Snape. I won't repeat my arguments on that topic here, but I have a question. What, exactly, does suspension from a boarding school involve? <snip> Would the student be sent home even if he lives some distance away from the school or would he just be forced to remain in his dormitory and not attend classes for a few days? <snip>
> > Carol, who fears that for most kids who break the rules and get suspended, suspension isn't much of a punishment
> >
> 
Eustace_Scrubb responded:

>  Having been a day student at a primarily boarding school in the US back in the 1970s, I can say that students who were suspended definitely did not stay on campus.  Whether or not they lived across the continent, suspension meant going home.  The headmaster previous to my attendance had been head of the school for over 65 years (yes, even longer than Dumbledore's term as head) and was most proud that he had never expelled a student.  I don't know what his policy on suspension was, but his successor did use it sparingly.
> 
> Since the general theory (quite probably valid) was that idleness leads to trouble, keeping a suspended student in his/her dorm not participating in class, sports, etc., would have been seen as a recipe for further disaster.

> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Eustace_Scrubb
>
Carol responds:

thanks for your answer. I've been doing a bit of further research, though, and have found that some British boarding schools have an alternative form of suspension called "in-house" or "on-campus suspension," in which the student is not allowed to attend classes but must complete his schoolwork and be in a designated place supervised by a member of the faculty or staff. I suppose it would be like all-day detention doing schoolwork instead of lines. That way the disruptive student is removed from the classroom but is not allowed to goof off or make trouble. Personally, I think it's a better idea than normal suspension, which does get the student out of the teacher's hair for a few days but inconveniences the parents and does nothing to deter the student from being suspended again. he may even consider it a reward.

In Harry's case, I can imagine him spending a few days in the library with Madam Pince standing watch over him, making sure that he was doing his work (and not defacing any books). That would be worse than returning to the Dursleys--and just as safe from attack by Voldemort or the DEs.

Carol, who remembers the days when kids were sent to their room by their parents as a punishment (we didn't have TVs in our rooms, much less computers or video game consoles, but we could read, do homework, draw, or play quietly by ourselves) and suspension was considered a disgrace