|
|
|
What is discipline?
Some people may think that discipline is about punishment. When asked by kids what they thought, they came up with all sorts of great ideas, for example:
* Learning the rules and following them.
* Looking after yourself and others.
* Doing the right thing.
* Taking care of yourself.
* Learning the difference between right and wrong.
* Being a good member of society.
* Knowing that if you do something wrong there will be consequences or punishments that you deserve.
By summing up all these ideas, we can say that discipline is about learning the rules to keep others and ourselves safe and happy. There are rules to learn at home, at school and out in the world.
Discipline at home
Your home is the first and most important place in your life. It is also the most dangerous place, where most accidents that happen to kids take place. So the first lot of rules is about your safety at home.
There are rules about:
• Safety in the kitchen
• Not touching hot things (like the fire or the iron)
• Not climbing on furniture
• Safety in the shed and the garden
• Safety in the car
Your mum and dad care about your health so there are rules to learn, like:
a. Washing hands before eating food and after going to the toilet
b. Covering your mouth when you cough or sneeze
c. Tidying up your toys so that people don’t fall over them
d. Taking a bath everyday
There are lots of people in the world, so you need to learn how to get along with others. Some rules might be about:
a. Sharing
b. Doing chores
c. Looking after your room and things
d. Not fighting
e. Speaking politely with others
f. Good manners — saying ‘thank you’ and ‘please’
g. Showing respect to others
Learning the rules can also mean learning about consequences — that is, what happens when you do the wrong things?
Maybe, there will be some kind of punishment like ‘time out’ in your room, missing out on something you like or not being allowed to visit friends after school. Some mums and dads give the same punishment for everything (my mum always used to send me to my room, but she didn’t realise that I liked being there so that I could read in peace!)
Learning to put right what is wrong (if you can) is a good way to make you and others feel better, for example it may be an idea to negotiate something like saving up to buy a new window glass that you broke, or giving your toy to the person whose toy you broke. That way, you will learn how to be more responsible a lot faster and it will be good for you and your mum and dad, too.
Discipline at school
When you are at school the teachers are ‘in loco parents’ which is a fancy way of saying that they have to look after you like your mum and dad do. Of course, teachers have lots of kids in their classes. That means that all the school rules, including classroom rules, which you may help to set up, are there to keep everyone safe, healthy and caring for each other, as well as not damaging their own and other people’s feelings or belongings.
There are rules about safety, for example no running in corridors, not leaving the class without permission. There are rules about health, for example wearing a hat in the sun, washing hands before eating. There are rules about getting on with others,
for example sharing, listening and being kind. There are rules about looking after property — your own, other people’s and the school’s.
As you get older, you know the rules and so you can help younger people understand them. You will learn about self-discipline, where you make good choices and help others to do the same. You know and accept the consequences of breaking rules. You become a person who is in charge of himself and can be relied upon to do the right thing.
Discipline in the
world outside
There are laws about all kinds of things in the community, but most of these laws have to do with keeping people and their property safe, wherever they are. Breaking these laws can lead to people getting hurt in some way, for example: breaking the rules of road safety can cause an accident.
Breaking the law by stealing or damaging people’s property can get you into trouble with the police and upset the people whose property was damaged or stolen. All the things you have learned at home and at school about good manners and caring about other’s feelings are very important in the outside world too.
Following orders
You may not be in the army, but there are times when, wherever you are, you have to follow orders. An adult who is responsible for your safety tells you to do something to keep you safe. Mum, Dad, teachers, older family and friends, your sports coach, the police, etc. are all people you should listen to in an emergency situation because they are looking out for your safety.
The adults in your life can help you learn about discipline and encourage you to become a responsible, happy and caring person.
Self-discipline is when you know what the right thing to do is, and you do it without having to be reminded.
You can learn self-discipline by:
* Listening
* Asking for an explanation
* Asking for help
* Thinking about the way you do things
* Looking at others who are good role models
* Looking at what happens to people who lack self discipline
* Being the best you can be at everything you do
* Practicing
According to some kids these are some ways in which you can show self-discipline, like:
“Not joining in when people are saying hurtful things to someone” [10-year-old Aisha]
“Following the rules at school” [12-year-old Haris]
“Sharing with others” [eight-year-old Tania]
“Handing something in when you find it” [nine-year-old Mariam]
“Owning up when you’ve done something wrong” [11-year-old Zain]
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if everybody in the world had learned self-discipline and knew the difference between right and wrong? What a safe, healthy, caring world it would be! You can help to make the world a better place by behaving in a responsible, caring manner and encouraging everyone else to do the same.
|
|
|
|
