Mum slams school for 'pathetic' water rule that landed son in detention

A mum has slammed her son's school for allegedly giving him a detention for drinking from his water bottle on the playground. She claims the school recently introduced a rule banning students from drinking anywhere apart from the canteen. Her son, unaware of this, was immediately given a detention after drinking a sip of water in plain sight of a teacher.

In her Mumsnet post, she said: "My son just started high school. Got a detention yesterday for drinking water outside on his break. No warning just a straight detention. Apparently this is a new rule they have because other kids messing around throwing water (which he was not). They can only drink in the canteen. He was not aware of the new rule."

She further elaborated about the confusion arising from the fact that the school had recently set students a goal to consume 2L of water per day. She shared, "I think it's totally pathetic of the school to give out detentions for. I want to ring and complain he doesn't want me to. Am I overreacting? ".

Some fellow Mumsnet users supported her view, sharing comments such as "Smile and nod. Easier just to follow the rules and not get into trouble (assuming you know what the rules are! ) School have no way of monitoring 2L of water intake anyway." Another added, "But he hasn't been told when he's supposed to drink from it. Will probably get detention for needing the toilet after drinking 2L too!".

A third user commented: "No, this doesn't need a ring up. Unfortunately, we also don't allow bottles out at break times as the kids use them as weapons, or squirt water over others. So it isn't a pathetic rule. Tell him to get a drink from it when he's supposed to. Teachers come down hard on pupils at the start of the school year just to reinforce the rules. A detention won't kill him! ".

Another user shared: "One of my daughter's friends was put in isolation on his first day of year 7 because his hair was too short. He's had that hairstyle every day of the 7 years I've known him. Horrible thing to do to a kid on the first day of secondary."