Why does collective punishment still happen in schools?

Collective punishment persists in schools, despite abundant evidence that it’s harmful. While the British Columbia School Act requires that student discipline reflect the actions of a “kind, firm, and judicious parent,” this language is open to broad and often conflicting interpretation. In the absence of specific statutory restrictions or detailed district policy, individual educators and administrators are granted wide discretion to determine what constitutes acceptable conduct and proportionate consequence. This discretion—intended to support professional judgment—can obscure harmful patterns of practice.

Educators often endure increasingly complex learning environments marked by overcrowded classrooms, limited support staff, and insufficient training in trauma-informed, neurodiversity-affirming approaches. When a few students act out—often due to unmet needs, executive function challenges, or distress signals misread as defiance—the temptation to impose a collective sanction on the entire class or group can be strong. It appears efficient at ameliorating the behaviour, restoring order without having to untangle the root causes of behaviour.

However, this approach is not neutral. Collective punishment inflicts disproportionate harm on vulnerable students—particularly disabled and neurodivergent learners—who may already struggle with impulsivity, transitions, or communication. Punishing a group for the actions of a few can deepen mistrust, isolate students further, and reinforce ableist narratives that conflate difference with disorder. Rather than cultivating accountability, it breeds resentment and fear.

Schools often justify collective punishment by invoking the language of fairness, teamwork, or school pride. But fairness rooted in deterrence, rather than justice, erodes the moral credibility of the institution itself. True fairness requires that responses be proportional, contextual, and sensitive to individual circumstances. To rely on collective punishment is to abdicate that responsibility.

Until school systems adopt clearer guidelines, invest in inclusive practices, and centre student dignity over compliance, collective punishment will remain a symptom of deeper systemic failures—not a solution to them.