Discipline

Currently Reading
Building Classroom Discipline (8th Edition)
By Carol M. Charles, Gail W. Senter
see related

Discipline

(Intro: A book review for Road less travelled again.  I write it for fun. )

Discipline, I used to think, was a set of rules for children to follow.  However, my view changes now. Instead, it should be valid for adults as well; meanwhile, I have a new interpretation: discipline is the basic tools we require to solve life’s problems. Without it, we can solve nothing.

Problems always evoke our frustration, anxiety, sadness, grief or anguish or whatever. That are why most people tend to ignore them, forget them, or pretend they do not exist. But it only delays the experience of legitimate suffering, making one even more painful.

Problems are always the cutting edge that distinguishes between success and failure. They create our courage and wisdom. When we encourage our human capacity to solve the problems, we encourage the growth of human spirits.

There are four tools for discipline.  First, delaying gratification.  It is a process of scheduling the pain and pleasure of life in such a way as to enhance the pleasure by meeting and experiencing the pain first and getting it over with. (Road less travelled, M. Scott).  It is learnt since our childhood, but a number of adolescents fall short of this norm. Second, acceptance of responsiblity. That is to say, we cannot solve the problem if we don’t regard it as our responsiblity to solve it.  People often hope that someone would solve it for us, but it is truly not. Third, dedication to reality.  The more we see the reality of the world, the better we equip to deal with the world. Forth, balancing.  Take, say, such a tool in the following. Given that we are asked to do something that is not our duty. To live wisely, we may sometimes reject it because it is not our responsiblity.  We should assume responsiblilty for ourselves, yet must possess the capacity to reject responsiblity that is not truly ours. 

As will be evident, these tools look simple and don’t need demanding extensive training.  On the contrary, we often forget to exercise it.  The problem lies not in the complexity of these tools, but lies in the will of using them.