Collapse of student discipline

by Andrew Scott

The indiscipline in society has gradually filtered into the country's schools and other educational institutions and it takes a dangerous turn when school students and university students get into rival groups and fight with each other sometimes ending in serious bodily injuries and extensive damage to property.

In many of the educational institutions such as schools and universities student indiscipline has become a feature of the day and unless quick and meaningful measures are taken to stem the tide of indiscipline in our schools and universities there will be a lot of disruption in the country both in the present and in the immediate future.

What use is education without proper discipline. Even the best education and the highest qualification become utterly useless without a proper discipline, specially self-discipline.

Student indiscipline and student unrest is nothing new to many countries.

But the fact remains that while students in other countries rise against intolerable social injustices and for the cause of very important national issues, some individuals in the student population of Sri Lanka have become a tribe which can be easily roused for even very trivial reasons such as the transfer of a teacher or the transfer of a principal.

This is a potential danger that the elders, parents, teachers and the State should take serious note of.

For several generations specially the schools in the villages of Sri Lanka were noted for their high sense of discipline backed by Buddhist ethics. A very important reason for this was that the village schools were not directly influenced by university indiscipline.

Today, this picture has changed completely and university indiscipline has penetrated into even the remote schools and as a result an explosive atmosphere of student indiscipline pervades in the entire country.

Due to several contributory reasons many schoolchildren in Sri Lanka, particularly the most senior students who will be leaving their portals of learning either to do higher education or to engage in some type of employment have not been trained to view a problem with a balanced mind.

In contrast, all students in the former generation were well trained to assess situations critically with an open mind without depending heavily on the opinions of others which may sometimes be biased and unwholesome.

Openly demonstrate

It is seen that sometimes today's students do not hesitate to openly demonstrate against the general rules of the country.

For instance when a school principal is transferred from a particular school due to any disciplinary or moral lapse on his or her part, the students of that school vehemently oppose the decision by demonstrating on even the highways. If this type of student indiscipline is allowed to continue we will pave the way to creat a dangerous and explosive situation in the future.

There is no doubt that students have fallen prey to this type of thoughtless behaviour from the society at large and from the university students who often rise against the orders of the authorities.

The irresponsible action of some school students of the present generation as testified by rival gangs of students after big matches demonstrates that there is something seriously wrong with the discipline of the country's students both in the universities as well as in the schools and other educational institutions.

We cannot assess the standard of discipline of students from the same critical angle from which we assess the discipline of university and other adult students most of whom are more experienced.

Discipline

Of course students are under the direct control and supervision of their parents and their teachers and the society naturally expects better norms of discipline from them at all times and at all places. It is imperative that we as elders and parents make today's children realise that they should respect and regard their parents, teachers and elders and the elders themselves should show a high standard of discipline worthy of emulation by the younger generation.

It must be accepted that in some other countries today students rise against their parents, teachers and other elders.

But in Sri Lanka, where the thoughts and actions of the people have been moulded by the words and deeds of great religious leaders, the people have been civilised and disciplined from time immemorial.From the dim past Sri Lanka has been a disciplined nation and discipline has been the foremost factor in this country throughout the centuries. Our students must always be encouraged to strive hard to maintain this unique feature in the present society too though we are living in a society ridden with much stress and strain.

We should sensibly analyse why student indiscipline in the country has deteriorated. In addition to the direct influence of university indiscipline there are several other important reasons for the proliferation of student indiscipline in the country.

Today's students, unlike in the past, lacks proper living models or characters to base their lives on and instead they find that even some of their very teachers, parents and even some leaders of the country are so indisciplined and students cannot draw anything worthwhile or inspirational from their lives.

In such a tragic situation we cannot blame the students for being indisciplined. When students themselves realise that their elders are indisciplined no wholesome attitudes could be expected from the country's student population.

During our student days a few decades ago we were very fortunate to have had inspiring human models to respectfully look up to in our teachers and elders who exerted an indelible influence on our lives.

Utterly frustrated

Most of today's students are utterly frustrated about their present as well as their future, specially when they think of the shrinking job opportunities before them.

Some students think that doing higher studies spending their energy, time and money is not worth at all. These as well as several other reasons collectively frustrate the students who sometimes prefer to make use of their school or university time for other activities such as participating in strikes and in public demonstrations, with or without valid reasons.

Vigilant

The government, teachers and parents should be ever vigilant about the activities of the students and every step must be taken to wean them away from the influence of misguided youth in the society, who. under some pretext or the other, always try everything possible to disrupt the smooth functioning of society.

Today's students, both in the universities and in the schools, lack wholesome ways to spend their leisure time (if at all they have). They live in a world of stress and strain just not knowing what to do with their free time.

This sort of environment is very harmful to the individuals as well as the society's well-being. Therefore, to make the students more disciplined we must provide them facilities for healthy leisure time activities under the guidance of able student counsellors. At present it is pathetic that proper student counselling is a grossly neglected aspect in the school and university systems.

Meaningful steps

It is time that we take quick and meaningful steps to at least control the wave of indiscipline among the school and university students who must be made to realise that discipline and education should go hand in hand and the idea that a well disciplined society is much better than a society teeming with educated indisciplined citizens should be inculcated in their minds.

We must take every action to wean students from the corruptive influence of society and guide them intelligently to become most disciplined. Plans for sound character building as in the good old days are imperative if we are to stem the tide of student indiscipline in the country. Teachers, parents and elders in society should join hands to ensure that proper student discipline is maintained throughout a student's life so that if would seep into oneself in adult life. It is only then that we can be hopeful of a truly disciplined society which would be a blessing to the society.

In this connection the concerted efforts of the President and the government to nurture a well disciplined Sri Lankan society is most admirable.