by G. Lee

Created on: January 25, 2010

Nowadays, many people complain about the lack of discipline in schools. As we leaf through the newspapers, we often read about gang fights in schools, smoking among students, truancy and vandalism of school property.

One of the ways of eradicating problems related to bad discipline in schools is to counsel problem students who create disciplinary problems like habitual truancy, dropping out of school or bullying. By counselling these troubled students regularly, experienced counsellors can encourage them to air their troubles and can get to the root of the problem. Most of these students are emotionally unbalanced and have low self-confidence. By helping them recover their self-esteem, and boost their self-worth, the counsellors play an important role in helping them become more emotionally stable. Thus, they will be able to see things from a more disciplined and mature perspective.

For students who are more "hard core", school rules should be tightened and enforced strictly to curb bad behavior in schools. Anyone caught committing serious offences such as vandalism, extortion and arson should be given severe warnings and be put under surveillance. If this does not curb an incorrigible student from extorting from younger students or wrecking school property, expulsion from the school is necessary. This will serve as a reminder to the other students that such serious misdemeanours will bring about dire punishment.

Another way of decreasing disciplinary problems is to encourage participation in extra-curricular activities. This will ensure that the time after school is well-used by students. Through participating in sports activities, clubs and societies, they gain a sense of togetherness and learn good moral values like co-operation, honesty, leadership and independence. This in turn means they will be more disciplined, take pride in their school and not cause disciplinary problems.

Lastly, parental participation should be encouraged as parents are the ones who know their children well. School authorities should work together with the parents as much as possible to help improve the students' behavior. Parents should spend more time with their children to instil in them good moral values and a strong sense of self-worth. As students spend most of their time in school and at home, teachers and parents influence them for good or bad, so it is essential that these two adult groups are themselves good role models.

If all these steps are implemented firmly and fairly, no problems of discipline should arise. As such, the school can be a safe and conducive place for learning and students can thrive in such an environment.

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