Don’t get me wrong, most subs are good, but there are a few “bad apples” who give all the rest a bad name. Like this sub I had in science today. A few people were bad, so the teacher gets all mad and makes EVERYBODY write an essay of apology and is giving us all detentions. This sucks. This sucks donkey testicles. Our student handbook says that a group cannot be punished for the actions of a few. 
:mad: Of course, we must all be BAD STUDENTS from the deepest, dankest pits of hell because a few people were cutting up. :rolleyes: However, some of my friends and I are starting a petition to appeal our detentions and the forced essay. Hopefully our regular teacher will agree with us. I am so angry right now. What the hell was she thinking? She clearly saw that only a few people were cutting up, and then she’s all “You guys are the WORST CLASS I HAVE EVER HAD!”, as she fights back tears. TEARS! At only a few students cutting up. Oh. Come. On. I’m not saying the people who were cutting up should not be punished, they should. It’s just that you shouldn’t punish innocent people. Thanks for your time, you’ve been great. I’ll keep you updated as details come in.
Why didn’t the rest of the class restrain the antics of the few? Peer pressure works wonders.
My classes know that if any of them gets a negative comment from a sub, I will nuke the whole class. This is made abundantly clear early in the school year. I haven’t had to do it in years, because my classes are now self-policing when I am absent.
Instead of a petition, why don’t you just get a representative group together to meet with your Science teacher before school tomorrow? Present your case calmly and rationally. Then accept whatever happens in the same fashion. You’ll get more done that way than by flying off the handle.
Those are good ideas, we are probably going to meet with him tomorrow. Just to defend my case, this is a quote from our student handbook:
An entire group cannot be disciplined for the actions of some members of the group. For example, if one person disrupts class, the teacher cannot give everyone in the class detention. This rule applies even if it is not known who is responsible for the actions.
I’m willing to bet that a sub can’t give a legal detention. It probably has to be vetted by your regular teacher.
To be fair to Captain Socks, he may be using The Pit for its intended purpose and is not planning on flying off the handle.
First of all, cut the sub a break. It sucks to be a substitute teacher, especially when you have a class intent on giving you a bunch of crap. Second, if the handbook specifically states that her punishment was not legit, you should be golden. Just calmly present the facts to the teacher, point out the relevant section of the handbook, and next time be nicer to the sub.
That’s the core of our argument. That and most of us were not doing anything.
Well, at least you have a good opening paragraph for your “essay of apology.”
I had a similar experience in college, once. It was a big class, about a hundred students or so. We had a midterm right before Spring break, and something like 80% of the class bombed the test. First day of class after the break, and the auditorium is practically empty. There’s maybe twenty students there. And instead of the normal lecture, we get a twenty minute harangue about our pathetic test scores, followed the by the professor storming out of the room.
Now, I know the SDMB is a bright group, so y’all have probably already figured out the math that managed to escape that guy: Out of 100 student, only about 20 got scores of a C or better. Out of 100 students, only about 20 showed up for the next class after the test. What do you think the overlap between those two groups was? I’m guessing it was about 1:1. Nice job there, dickweed. You’ve just managed to alienate the pathetically small minority of students in your class who’ve actually been paying attention to your lectures and doing the required reading.
No offense, I hope, but your OP made me literally laugh out loud.
Being only 21, it was not all that long ago that this type of shit used to seem like the OH MY GAWD END OF T3H WORLD!!1! to me, too. I’m not saying you don’t have a case- you certainly seem to- it’s just that, well, detention isn’t a big deal. It’s detention, not the Gulag.*
Further, like someone else mentioned, it isn’t easy to be a sub. Hell, I assist in coaching high school debate and sometimes even the best kids act like total fuckers. I assure you, as a young, inexperienced person (and hell, I don’t even technically work for the school- I’m a volunteer!), it can be incredibly frustrating trying to settle a bunch of kids who wont listen. Sure, a teacher should be able to take control, but a sub isn’t a full time teacher (or might be working on the credentials to become a full time teacher- IE: a student).
You guys aren’t 5 year olds. If your classmates are being assholes, tell them to shut the hell up and stop being rude to the sub. This is what we would all do back in high school, because we honestly thought it was rude for one little jackass to a: bother the poor sub and b: make the rest of us look bad.
Keep fighting the good fight. Stick it to the man!
*Like I said: when I was in high school, I’d have probably blown a gasket over a situation like the one you describe in your OP. After all, I can happily say that I managed 13 years of public education (Kinder + grades 1-12) without ever getting detention even once. Go me.
I had a Spanish teacher like that in 9th grade. Every time kids acted up (which was often) we were all forced to write long essays about nothing important in particular.
Once it was a 3.5 page essay. I had a lot of other stuff to do, and I was so mad at being punished for the misbehavior of others, I told my mom. Who then proceeded to call and yell at the teacher. She never gave the class collective punishments again. 
Dear Ms. Substitute Teacher: We accept the fact that we had to sacrifice an entire afternoon in detention for whatever it was we did wrong. But, we think you’re crazy to make us write an essay telling you who we think we are. You see us as you want to see us: in the simplest terms, and in the most convenient definitions. But, what we found out is that each one of us is:
a brain . . .
And an athlete . . .
And a basket case . . .
A princess . . .
And a criminal.
Does that answer your question?
Sincerely yours,
The Science Club.
Most of my friends are just not going to write the essay. I probably won’t, too.
That sucks, CS. I remember getting grouped in the collective pile all throughout my school career, especially middle school. I hate when the teachers would say “It’s each student’s responsibility to keep others in check. If they’re loud, tell them to quiet down.” What the fuck? How the hell was I, a shy girl who barely spoke in class, supposed to quiet down all the idiots?! It was pure bullshit. That was the thing that really grated on me the most during middle school, being treated as if we were all one big, idiotic organism instead of individuals. It made me lose motivation in my classes and not care anymore, didn’t gain that motivation back until some time in high school. Damn I hated those middle schoolers, and the teachers that tried to make us do their job.
If you weren’t one of the kids causing the trouble, don’t write the essay.
You know, from my own days back in school, I understand how very sucky being a sub was / is. However, in my neck of the woods, it was a relatively good paying job for not a lot of skill, effort or time ‘wasted.’ Most who watched over us, usually did little more than hand out worksheets or show films, and in at least one case, that was for half the year. Regardless, it’s bound to be really tough what some assholes can put you through.
That said, I believe you when you say it was only a handful of kids that were acting up and I see no reason to admonish you to be nicer or police the others. Like nikonikosuru brings up, there’s a reason that sometimes certain individuals behave in a bullying manner… because they have more power (physical, age, socio-economic status, whatever) and a peer isn’t always in the position to hold much sway. So, I think that would leave the person in authority (beit simply that they’re an adult or due to pay) to handle such issues. Otherwise, the advice given by silenus is sound in how you approach your teacher. Going by your pretty-much-kept-in-check attitude here, I’d say you’ll deal with things reasonably. Good luck.
Count Blucher, that is exactly what I thought of too. If the OP is actually in school now though, then he is probably too young to get it. But I bet the teacher would.
No offense, but I’m a little bent out of shape on his behalf.
Big deal. It’s not the Gulag. Regardless of the severity of the punishment, it was unwarrranted. He shouldn’t have to suck up an unwarranted punishment just because he “can.”
Again, big deal. It’s hard to be a sub. Waaaah. If the sub can’t control the class, then it’s time to get reeducated or take more specific steps to control the class, not to hand down a blanket punishment. That’s the surest sign of a loss of control right there- it’s a lashing out with the only power the sub thinks that the sub has, and it’s the quickest way to never having control of a class again, once you get that reputation.
It’s not his job to police his classmates; it’s the sub’s. And HE shouldn’t be punished because the sub couldn’t do HER job.
This isn’t to say that I don’t agree with you. If I were in the class, I would have been in the “sit down and shut the fuck up” camp, because clowning, in my opinion, is pretty damn lame and baiting a sub is not exactly a source of new comedy.
But that doesn’t mean that a punishment for the class is warranted, no matter how light.
While self-policing might have been the responsible thing to do on the part of the students, it is an entirely unwarranted response to discipline those students, no matter how lightly, for not doing so.
Sometimes expediency seems easier than principle, but it’s not preferable.
Oh, friend silenus, how I wish that were true. The concept of peer pressure is one of convenience.
In any case, yes, personal bias shows here, and Captain Socks, I am sure (and I’m not saying this in a snarky tone, so please don’t view it like that) that you’re a good kid and student, but I take with a huge grain of salt what students in a classroom say. I have watched students talk to each other, or pass notes, or whatever, and when I say their names, they’ll turn around and say, “I wasn’t talking.” Like Bart Simpson holding the yo-yo string. What you perceive happened and what the sub saw might be entirely different.
That said, a teacher should never punish the whole for the actions of a few, or even the most.
Update: The regular teacher came back today and basically rendered the punishment moot. A victory of sorts, I guess.
This speaks to your unfairness, silenus, not wisdom, and certainly shouldn’t be taken as a legitimate foundation for any advice you give regarding the situation.