To reduce the number of student suspensions, Southfield High has started issuing Saturday morning detentions, said Saturday School Administrator Alise Collier.

“We want to encourage the students to make better decisions,” Collier said.

Students who break rules regarding cell phone use, dress code, tardiness or other infractions, are now given two consecutive Saturdays of detention. They are required to report from 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., Collier said. If students do not attend both Saturday detentions, they are suspended from school, according to the new policy.

For detention, students are told to bring their own work to do and to power off their cell phones. Those who arrive more than 15 minutes late are suspended, Collier said. Students also have to be in dress code to attend detention, according to the policy.

Sophomore Delano Walker, who already served a detention this year, says he prefers Saturday detention to being suspended because he does not like having to miss school.

But senior Maya Johnson says she doesn’t like the new Saturday detention policy: “You have to wake up so early on your Saturday, then you’re just sitting in those very cold classrooms.”

The old policy suspended students from school who broke rules. This caused students to miss class and fall behind, in some cases, on their school work. The new policy keeps students in class but cuts into their weekend time.