Get the facts straight. The school rule is one detention. My daughter received three detentions for speaking to her friends without a disruption. Had the school followed their polices, (one detention) no suit would have ensued. Moreover, it was only one incident, not three.
For seven years kids had the ability to socialize with 20-25 kids during lunch. Thereafter, kids have recess time. So, after following the school's policy for seven years, as soon as kid enters the middle school, any reasonable freedom they once had are gone. No recess time, no ability to socialize with 20-25 kids. They are only permitted to socialize with 8 kids. Half the time you ask for permission to speak with your friends is denied. The other half-the kid has two minutes at best.
Welcome to Communism 101.
There's a word for this in the academic literature. It's called "custodial pupil control." I just finished a paper on the subject that will come out as a book chapter next spring: "Current Threats to Humanistic Pupil Control."