What’s worse than detention? A school in Indonesia allegedly used some very “inside the box” thinking to answer that question, creating an actual cell to allegedly stick misbehaving students into as punishment.
The Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI) announced the shocking discovery today, telling the media that a vocational high school (SMK) in Batam has a jail cell on school premises where rowdy students were kept for hours.
“According to information gathered by KPAI, the length of detention [in the cell] depends on the level of violation. There were even students kept for over a day,” KPAI Commissioner Retno Listyarti said today, as quoted by Okezone.
Retno said the school thinks the jail cell serves as a deterrent for students from repeating their misdemeanors and punishments have been known to go beyond just detention in the cell.
“In one case that was reported to the Batam KPPAD (Regional Women and Child Protection Commission), the student who allegedly committed a heavy violation had their hands cuffed and experienced psychological trauma because they felt ashamed [after their story spread] on social media,” she said.
One student, identified by his initials RS, said he was put in the cell last Thursday not as punishment for misbehavior, but for owing money to the school. He claims the school’s staff told him that they wouldn’t let him out until he paid the money, but he was eventually rescued by the Batam KPPAD on Saturday.
RS and his parents reported the incident to the police, who are now investigating the allegation. The Education Ministry and KPAI are also getting involved in the investigation.
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