History
This site began as a response to the frustration and harm caused by collective punishment in our own lives. As parents, we’ve experienced firsthand how unfair and ineffective it is—not just for the children directly involved, but for entire classrooms and communities.
What started as one family’s effort to create change has grown into a call to action for all families who believe in a more equitable and compassionate education system. Together, we can ensure schools uphold values of fairness, inclusion, and accountability.
What we believe
- Fairness and Accountability: Discipline should address individual actions, not penalise uninvolved students.
- Inclusion and Understanding: Schools should support children facing barriers, not compound their struggles.
- Evidence-Based Solutions: Restorative practices and individualized approaches lead to better outcomes for everyone.
“I knew it was wrong to humiliate my daughter. I looked it up and collective punishment is not even legal in war! We’re supposed to be teaching our children to be kind and fair. How can they learn that when their teacher is a bully?”
- Just a Parent
Why collective punishment?
Collective punishment is not an isolated problem; it exists within a continuum of harmful and regressive disciplinary practices—alongside isolation, physical restraint, and, in some jurisdictions, even corporal punishment. These tactics dehumanise children and disproportionately target those already made vulnerable: disabled students, neurodivergent learners, and those who cannot—or will not—conform to rigid behavioural norms. Yet collective punishment stands apart in its clarity. Even the youngest children grasp its injustice. It violates basic moral reasoning. It offends the principles of individual responsibility and due process. Under international law, it is recognised as a war crime.
Why centre this one practice? Because sometimes, naming what is plainly indefensible can catalyse broader transformation. Like a boycott that galvanises a movement, targeting collective punishment allows us to focus public will on a practice so clearly wrong that it demands immediate correction. While isolation and restraint may affect fewer students, collective punishment is widespread, systemic, and normalized. Challenging it opens the door to reimagining disciplinary frameworks altogether.
This is not merely about policy—it is about cultural change. Schools and districts must be held to account. The School Act, along with local policies, should be revised to clearly prohibit disciplinary methods rooted in shame, coercion, or group blame. But prohibition alone is insufficient. There must be real consequences for those who enable or enact harm—whether through disciplinary action, removal from positions of authority, or legal accountability. Our schools must become environments of dignity, care, and equity—not institutions of control masquerading as education.
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Why i started this campaign
As a solution architect and parent of disabled children, I’ve seen the public education system from both sides. What I’ve found is not a system in crisis—it’s a system functioning exactly as designed: rewarding compliance, punishing difference, and quietly discarding those who don’t fit. This post explores how exclusionary practices like collective punishment persist in schools, not because of oversight or error, but because of a deeper cultural logic rooted…
If you wish to support the maintenance of this site, which has taken hundreds of hours and significant investment to maintain, that would be ever so appreciated. You can support our advocacy here. Your financial support can have a huge impact to allow me to keep doing this work.
