Does 30 minutes of tedious writing make us behave? In my personal experience, JUG is not an effective method of discipline. Rather than encouraging discipline, JUG is an ineffective punishment that encourages recidivism.
One of the biggest flaws within the current system is that once students get JUG for the first time, they no longer fear it. Trevor Atkins ‘27, a JUG attendee, said, “At a certain point when you have JUG, it’s not really a punishment and it’s just something you have to do. I think there are better ways of discipline, rather than just writing quotes and numbers.”
For any punishment to be effective, it should be feared. Most students, such as Trevor Atkins, who have received JUG don’t fear it and simply look at it as busy work. This doesn’t fix student behavior and teaches students that they can get away with poor behavior with a light punishment.
Another reason why JUG is ineffective is that it puts a physical strain on students. Calum Bitanga ’27, who has been jugged eight times, stated, “Useless busywork is a waste of time. It hurts my hand. JUG gives me no motivation to change my ways.”
Students can receive weekend JUG, which can affect any weekend plans they might have. Students usually leave JUG with sore hands, making it hard for them to concentrate on their homework for the remainder of the day. Rather than punishing students, JUG hurts students’ academic performance, leading to more JUGs in the future.
Finally, the clearest proof that JUG doesn’t work is the number of students who have received it repeatedly. The best example of this is Liam Bender ’27, who noted, “I wouldn’t have gotten it 12 times if it was effective.”
While it’s easy to blame Liam Bender for getting so many JUGs, the truth is that the system has failed him. Other students, like Liam, are trapped in a flawed system where JUG not only fails to discourage bad behavior but instead reinforces it, all while negatively impacting their grades. Loyola should instead implement a new form of punishment that effectively promotes change, instead of JUG, which fails to correct student behavior.