By Abubakar Mansur
According to the Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary, discipline is the practice of training people to obey rules and orders and punishing them if they don’t, while indiscipline is a lack of control in the behaviour of a group of people.
Based on the aforementioned, indiscipline brings lack of control in the behaviour of the people, which could be in the classroom, traffic, institution, parastatals, team and any business venture etc. When these happen, it generates recklessness, insubordination, abuse of power and privilege,which have accumulated into societal challenges as the youth feels they cannot be guided by the simple societal code of conduct. Such society automatically becomes a laughing stock and vulnerable to crime, like insurgency, thuggery, banditry, rubbery, drug abuse and internet fraudsters etc. It is necessary we look at these societal challenges from various angles.
Students/Youth: The youth are the major character in this theatre and therefore need to stop, abide, obey and submit diligently to learning and avoid excessive browsing of the internet and chatting unnecessarily. They should maintain high moral standards and refuse to succumb to peer pressure by smoking, drug abuse, internet fraud and violence in the academic environment or the society at large. Students should be subject to reading, research, tutorials and avoid partying, clubbing, cultism and every other attitude that would circumvent their academic process.
Parents: parental responsibility is an enormous task. Parents should learn to live an exemplary lifestyle and be a role model to their children and support the effort being played by the teachers in moulding their children’s character and inculcating discipline, by encouraging their wards to adhere to simple instructions by creating time to lecture them. Parents should avoid showing excessive love to their children by coming to the school to defend their actions and inaction at every slightest provocation without building a synergy with the teachers in curtailing bad attitude and behaviour.
School Management: In the recent past much pressure is transferred to the teachers by the school management for every offence, crime and misconduct by students. This blame game should not be lopsided; rather a collective effort to get our desired results for a better society is needed.
Government: The government as a matter of urgency should standardize policies and programmes that would encourage excellent performance and productivity in the development of our country.
In conclusion, our children are our future and must be guided positively with a high level of discipline to get the best from them and also make our society and country compete favourably in the committee of nations.
Mansur is Senior Prefect at Key Special Academy, Gwarinpa, Abuja
