My nephew went to a 'normal' school and since his behavior was often not acceptable to the teacher he was kicked out of class to be bullied by the other kids who were not behaving - so his punishment was to be removed from the presence of a teacher.
At Tamariki, my children's democratic school, the punishment for repeated unacceptable behavior (as judged by the meeting system) is the opposite - to have your freedom removed and be restricted to having to stay in the presence of a teacher! Well mostly they are teacher aids since as it has been proven that a teachers methods of interacting with a child is far more important than their qualifications - in fact it has been proven that less qualified people often make better teachers since they are more able to communicate at the child's level.
I was a bit put out at first because I thought I could teach the kids what I knew (science & electronics) but it turned out they didn't want to know and would rather I played gun war or some other game with them. I love how family members can stay at school all day, and many parents make a habit of being there to help out and chat with other parents. I love how we don't have to get there at exactly 9 each morning - any time between 8 and 10 (or later) is fine. Sometimes we don't go at all and there is no fuss - since they believe that a child learns by playing it no big issue not to attend school.
To get more exercise I have been running around the school with a kid on my shoulders, which they love (last week one laughed so hard he peed his pants and I felt this strangely familiar warmness down my back
)
I love how my kids really want to go to school, and in holidays are asking how long it will be before they can go back since it is such great fun.
Instead of fixed meal breaks they allow children to eat any time of the day (which has been proven in pre-schools to help prevent obesity) and provide staple foods in the kitchen so if the kids are hungry they can make their own meals. There is a license system in the kitchen so kids can gain skills in using different appliances if they want.
They have planted lots of fruit tress around the school grounds and the kids love picking their own fruit, and have a garden with straw berries, peas etc.
They have lots of materials for building huts - wood, steel drums, tires - on the grounds. One enterprising group of kids built a four story hut of drums, but this was banned as being unsafe. Another kids parents came very late to pick him up and found him getting his hut ready to spend the night at school.
The other week a kid organised a sleep over at school for the big kids, and a teacher made a pile of pillows on the floor so they could jump off the mezzanine floor, then when it got dark they played spot light with torches.
Since the school is so easy going they often has handicapped & challenging kids attending and this has created great acceptance of different behaviors. They has been very curious about me eating raw and 'rotten' meat and one kid said to me he thought it was cool.
At the end of the year function each kid gets a hand make certificate (made by the older kids) for something that they excelled at during the year - for example my son has got lego and hut building awards. Every year after summer break they have a school camp so all the kids and families can get together before school starts for the year.
As a result most of the children are very well balanced, self empowered, and a delight to be around since they do not have anything to rebel against.
Amazingly this is a state funded school, with a parent top up of around $26 per week per child, but they are now having a fight with the government over the new 'national standards' testing requirements where every primary school child must be regularly tested for academic performance - which does not fit with the school philosophy! A teachers comment was "You don't fatten the pig by weighing it"
