Cancer of school indiscipline

“The undisciplined are slaves to moods, appetites and passions”

– Stephen Covey

ALL SOCIETAL institutions, both formal and informal, are governed by rules of engagement for their orderly functioning. The absence of such rules would lead to chaos and dysfunction.

One source defines “discipline (as the) practice of training people to obey rules or a code of behaviour, using sanctions to correct disobedience.” It refers to the capacity to train oneself to do something in a controlled and habitual way, instilling a sense of self-regulation and limits of behaviour.

The absence of this sense of self-regulation has resulted in many people falling into this rabbit hole of indiscipline. Our schools, with the current discipline matrix, are premised on strict adherence to rules with punitive consequences for their infringement or disobedience.

From an early age, we are taught to dream and dream big. While it may be important to dream, we must be able to convert these dreams into goals and if these goals are to be successful, we must exercise commitment and consistency.

Remember, goals have time limits that indicate when they are targeted to be achieved. Unfortunately, too many of us do not take the time to establish goals nor encourage our young ones to do the same. There is then no realistic measurement for one to assess the degree of progress one is making in life.

It is also easy for one to be lost in their moods, appetites and passion, not being cognisant of the long-term effects on their life and the lives of others.

At our schools, there is a stark difference between the students who display a high degree of discipline and those who do not. The disciplined students find it easier to pay attention in class and commit themselves to participating in class activities, completing the tasks so assigned to them.

These students seldom have time to dedicate to misbehaviour. Their need for acceptance and love are often met and are goal-focused. These students are more likely to take advantage of the schooling opportunity and, thus, more likely to be recognised and celebrated – whether for participating in school activities or excelling in personal endeavours.

Conversely, the students who are unable to conform to rules are not as attentive in their studies and tend to fall behind in their work. This leads to frustration that demotivates them in further participation. Their social and emotional deficits now become a barrier to their academic success, ultimately leading to social marginalisation. They then seek the attention they desire through disruptive measures, making a bad situation worse.

The easy access to culturally bankrupt music builds an undesirable passion and appetite for derogative conduct as they pursue social validation. Marrying this reality with the numerous submissions from academics on child care and the advocates of children’s rights, accountability and responsibility in our students are stymied.

Schools are now characterised by a dilemma of ethical/moral dichotomy, competing with a value system antithetical to good education, and it seems to be a losing battle.

As society’s social structures and moral fabric decline, a corresponding unprecedented level of indiscipline has been allowed to grow and become a cancer in our education system. These undisciplined students have challenged the ethos of the education system to its core.

Teachers and school administrators spend a lot more time dealing with infractions and irate parents who openly and unapologetically reinforce the indisciplined behaviours of their children, diminishing the capacity of the school to execute its mandate. As a moral agency, schools assume that the foundations of acceptable social conduct and engagement are laid in the home to be reinforced at the school.

Clear, unambiguous and bold policies are urgently needed to address this dissonance of expectation. School officials, working with a strategic plan in unison, must create approaches unique to the needs of their respective school communities.

Parents must also be held accountable for the upbringing of their children and the disruption they impose on learning environments. Unfortunately, indiscipline in and out of school is rewarded by social acceptance.

Community/religious groups and leaders also need to assume a more prominent role in re-establishing social order. Children are products of their socialisation; they bring to school the norms, values, behaviours, attitudes and beliefs instilled by these informal education institutions.

If the society is characterised by a growing propensity for citizens to blatantly break rules without punitive consequences, its unsurprising that schools would be spared the cancer of such indiscipline. Discipline, one of our national watchwords, is one of the pillars of a progressive society.