An entire class should never be punished for the actions of one or a few students.

"1. Sometimes, teachers have no other choice. In some instances, since the teacher did not see what actually happened, he or she is put into a position to where they can either punish no one or everyone. Since punishing no one would only encourage future misbehavior, punishing everything is the only way to effectively punish the class." Teachers have the choice of being watchful. If a teacher pays attention to what happens, this wouldn't be a problem. Additionally, because this targets everyone, it punishes innocent people, and I think that not punishing anybody would be a better alternative, in this case. I mean, the teacher isn't exactly sure if one of his own students committed the action, if he assumes that an action has been committed. "2. As an 'innocent' student, you have the chance to save the entire class from punishment. In most cases, at least in my experience, most teachers will say something along the lines of 'Tell me who did this or y'all are all going to be in trouble!' (I'm from the south, my teachers say y'all). You, as an innocent member of the class, have the possibility to say 'Person A did it!' and save you and others in your class from being punished. However, since no one speaks up, the class is just begging for a punishment." Any teacher should realize that people don't rat each other out like that. Telling on someone else in front of the rest of the class can lead to huge downfall in reputation, especially if the wrongdoers are popular. To have a social life, a kid has no choice but to take the punishment with the rest of the class. This makes the tool completely ineffective. "3. Is the punishment really all that severe? I've been in the same situation several times before, but the punishment has never been that severe. I mean, I've never received a demerit or detention for something I didn't do. The worst that I've received is maybe 'silent lunch,' where all students are prohibited from talking during lunch." I've had to sit out from recess before because of a few kids in my class. Once, in the class down the hall, something was broken in the classroom, or something of the sort, and the teacher suspected that one of the kids in her class had done it. Therefore, she said that every student in her class had to sit out from recess every day until the kid turned himself or herself in. Other students were incapable of turning in the wrongdoer, because only the wrongdoer knew who he or she was. This ended up lasting about a week until the kid turned himself in, and a week without recess is pretty severe in fifth grade. "Now, it's your turn to attack my points and establish your own." Alright, then. 1. Punishing innocent people is unethical. They didn't do anything wrong. Thus, they don't deserve the punishment. And yet, they receive it. How would you like it if you had to sit out of gym or recess every day for the entire year until a student, who may or may not be in your class, who you didn't know turned himself in? This isn't a rhetorical question; it is a question to be answered. 2. It is ineffective. Quite often, the wrongdoer isn't even part of the class that is being punished. Thus, punishing the wrong people gets nothing done. Additionally, students don't really care about punishment if the entire class goes along with them. They only care if they get singled out. I have established my points, and countered yours. Fire at will.