Preventing Misconduct or Punishing it?

By Suraj Baadkar

Lack of discipline is identified as one of the most serious problems faced by educational institutions all over the world. Many educators, parents and students are concerned with this issue and with its eventual influence on the learning process of individual students. About a couple of decades ago according to the 1987 Harvard Letter, the annual average suspension rate in schools around United States was two million per annum. Problems such as intimidation, smoking, cheating, etc., which result in countless classroom and school disruptions, have increased the number of suspensions to new higher levels. Repeated observations and studies have shown that half of the instructional time in the classroom is lost to other minor issues like misbehavior and conversing in languages other than the language of instruction amongst the peers.
All of the instances of misbehavior and other disruptions are due to low awareness amongst the students about disciplinary issues. In order to inculcate morals and etiquette in students, the awareness on such issues should be given at the elementary level of education. Through continuous routine practice, students become aware of the 'to do and not to do' in school environment.
Schutz has always used learning experiences at the very early grade levels to teach students discipline. Nevertheless, as the students grow some of the human characters such as rationality, egoistic behavior and pride grow along with them. They also develop curiosity to try new things and try to expose themselves to things above their age. Recently Schutz has faced some disciplinary issues which appear to be growing instead of decreasing.
Some of these current happenings raise a very important question, "Is discipline concerned with preventing misconduct or punishing it?" It can go both ways. It is described as enforcing classroom rules in order to minimize disruptions. Punishments to enforce these rules are not always the appropriate measure as many students may start to think in a vengeful manner and cause trouble intentionally. Therefore, solutions to such situations would be talks at different levels with individuals and their parents, followed by warning and suspension thereafter.
In order for an educational system to work efficiently and provide best service, both the staff and the students need to work co-operatively for the very simple cause of education. Students need to realize that a disruption to the disciplinary environment of the school worsens their own situation and future opportunities. The teachers should enforce classroom rules which do not allow students to disturb the flow of instruction. They should also not overlook little mischief which then will become a habit to students. This is how to create an environment of positive learning. Misbehavior can be reduced and controlled through spreading awareness amongst the students about the importance of discipline and etiquette on campus and inside the classroom.