Ashok Sharma
Indiscipline among students is a common problem, especially at secondery, senior secondery and college level.Everyday newspapers are full of reports of growing unrest and indiscipline among students.It is common to find students indulging themselves in indisciplined acts such as copying, cheating, writing dirty things on the wall, throwing stones at police, vandalising the government property and insulting their teachers and principal.There have been incidents where the teachers have been manhandled and even slapped by none other than their own students.
Indiscipline, in fact, is the manifestation of deteriorating teacher taught relations and declining respect of teachers as a direct fallout of commercialisation of education.The causes of indiscipline prevailing among the students are many and students alone can not be blamed for this malaise.Teachers themselves induldge in corrupt and unscruplous practices to earn money.Corruption and moral degradation are widely prevalrnt in the society and teachers , being a part of society, in many cases,don’t possess such qualities as should inspire confidence, hope and honesty in the students.In other words, students have no one to take as a role model to follow and grope in the dark.Students imitate their parents, teachers, leaders, elders etc and behave accordingly.Rapid disintegration of famiIes too has contributed to the menace of growing indiscipline in the students.Students don’t get as much love and affection as they ought to get .Western culture and liberal ideas prapagated by the television and other electronic gadgets have worsened the situation.There is neither character nor values nor morals.The present education system too is not relevent to the practical needs of the students.It is not job oriented amd does not produce employable products.Sometimes there are reports of favourtism and nepotism in employment with merit being marginalised.Students feel frustrated, restless and disillusioned, which leads to acts of vandalism and indiscipline.Not only this, lack of proper guidance with regard to the choice of courses and subjects makes them the victims of indecision and restlessness.Non availability of courses suitable to the interests and aptitudes of students too leads to indiscipline.There are overcrowded classes with no formal contact between the teachers and the taught only adds to this malaise.The problem of growing indiscipline qmong students can also be attributed to them the fact that our present education system is such as encourages a student for rote learning and doesnot keep them busy throughout the session.Students remain idle throughout the year and study only for two to three months before examinations to get through.As such,much of their surplus time and energy remain untapped for most of the time of the year.Last but not least,parents have high aspirations from their children and coerce them to get more marks in the exams.
The problem of growing indiscipline among students is grave one but not impossible to check.It is the duty of the leaders, teachers, thinkers, parents and society at large to make earnest efforts to check this problem.To begin with, every school and college should be equipped with all the infrastrucural facilities stps must be taken to ensure that there is no vacancy of any employee in the institution. It is a well known proverb that ‘an idle brain is devil’s workshop’.So,there should be spacious playground, laboratories, libraries etc. In the schools and colleges to provide the students a platform to channelise their surplus energy.There should be a no. of courses available in the institutions catering to the varied interests, aptitudes and needs of the students.Emphasis should be laid on moral education and character building of the students.The government should introduce a scheme of liberal scholarships to the needy and meritorious students.To avoid overcrowding, more posts of teachers need to be created.It will help in reducing the teacher pupil ratio on one hand and help to maintain much needed teacher taught contact.Parents too have an important role to play to prevent their children from indulging in indiscipline.They should keep it in mind that children spend only a little time at school as compared to that spent at home and on them lies a greater responsobility to shape the personality of their child than the school.So they must check the notebooks of their children regularly and talk to the teachers regarding their performance and behaviour.They should also be not averse to the teachers disciplining their children.They ought to spend more time with their wards, ask them how their day was and should not indulge themselves in excessive regimentation of their children.They should not force their own choice of subjects on the children and let them choose their subjects themselves.
Schools, on their part, should set clear rules and regulations for the students and all the teachers should work towards the common goal of moulding their students into morally upright and ethically strong citizens and visionery leaders.Schools also need to enforce stricter laws to deal with students indulging themselves in bullying and aggressive behaviour in or outside the schools and efforts must be made to advocate the culture of nonviolence in the school.Teachers need to be recruited on the basis of merit and suitability and no other considerations.The government should also reframe the syllabi of differnt classes to make it more relevent and job oriented.The syllabus should be such as is enjoyable and keeps the students busy throughout the academic session.Students should be encouraged to spend more time in the libraries and laboratories to let them make profitable use of their leisure.Proper facilities for games and other cocurricilar activities should be made to harness the surplus energy of the students.Teachers too need to realise their true role towards the students and the society.They should act with a missionery zeal and not with the mercenary motive to teach their students.They should themselves be the highest example of hardwork, integrity, scholarship and other such noble virtues expected of them.Teachers should also strive hard to develop confidence and other positive attributes in the students.They should also act beyond the call of duty and help in helping their students in solving their problems and provide them guidance and counselling with regard to their psychological and personal problems and thus build a strong and intimate rapport with them.The political parties also need to act with responsibilty and not exploit the talents and energies of the youth to suit their petty ends.
To quote Sir Smith,”Discipline is the refining fire which turns talent into ability” and the fact remains that discipline is the key to success and a disciplined student never lags behind the others in the race of life .It must be remembered that following set pattern of rules and code of conduct does not mean strangling talent and ambition.Therefore students should realise the importance of discipline in their life, especially at school and college life and not indulge in acts of indiscipline.They should inculcate the virtues such as honesty,punctuality and above all, self discipline to get success and lead a meaningful and purposeful life.
(The writer is serving as lecturer in English, Govt .Hr. Sec. School, Barolla ( Udhampur )
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