School indiscipline has been, over time, an issue of concern for educators and we can even state that it has become a huge concern among educators, policy-makers and the public opinion in general, owing to the outbreak of aggressiveness among peers, violence within teacher-student relationship and vandalism, as well. Indiscipline is a behavioral disorder that is classified as an act of delinquency. Just like, lying, stealing and playing truant or running away from home. It is often the cause of a lot of mental, emotional and also physical damage. Such as damage to property in homes as well as in schools. An undisciplined child is an uncontrollable child and can do just about any damage when he or she does not get whatever he or she wants.
What are the causes of indiscipline in the school?
Causes within school; this might include the following,
- The teacher taking the lesson is a supply teacher and so is not recognised by the pupils as a figure of authority, because he/she is only temporarily teaching that class. Also the supply teacher may not know the individual names of the pupils.
- A teacher is foreign and cannot speak good English - the pupils can use it to their advantage by purposefully misunderstanding the teacher.
- The teacher may be late and so the first few minutes of the lesson were spent in an environment devoid of the basic classroom rules. This bad foundation for the lesson makes pupils more prone to rebellious behaviour.
- Of course the standard of discipline is likely to go down even further if a lengthy holiday awaits the end of a friday afternoon lesson or indeed awaits the end of a school week.
- Poor teaching. Usually a teacher who makes more of an effort to connect with the pupils is more likely to gain their attention. But reading in a monotone from a text book before telling the pupils to get on with some task in their books is just asking for the paper planes to take flight and shouting across the classroom.
- Outnumbered. Teaching is a tough job, though not impossibly so. However, sometimes there may simply be too many rebels in the class to keep control.
- Amongst higher ability groups, certain pupils may come to the conclusion that they are intellectually superior to the teacher and so taunt him/her, without feeling any incentives to do the work.
- Negative relations between pupils. There may also be unwelcome incidents that could occur between pupils at any time, causing tempers to occasionally flare.
Causes outside school; this may possibly include the following:
- The parents of pupils may have no interest in education and so this encourages their children to assume a similar attitude, provoking rebellious behaviour.
- Pupils may be abused at home. It’s not going to be as easy for a pupil from an unstable background to focus on school work as one from a more secure one.
- Pupils may have found that being tough is the way to survive at home, so why shouldn't they think otherwise whenever they turn up to school?
- Home life for some might involve being overindulged by parents and so pupils expect the same when they come to school.
- Again in the domestic context, pupils may not ever have been set clear boundaries at home and so it’s only natural that they are going to find abiding by a whole set of new rules at school a suffocating prospect which limits their usual freedom immeasurably.
What can or should we do?
If the child is offered practical courses that cater to his requirements, he will have a purpose and therefore less time to indulge in undisciplined behaviour. His restlessness will be curbed, as he will be better occupied. But until then, it is the duty of the teachers to help the child to cope with the load and to find a workable solution for those children who are breaking under the pressure. The parents too can contribute by spending quality time with the child, and taking a deeper interest in what is happening at school. They should make an effort to meet the teachers and find a solution to make their children's' schooling more productive and satisfying. Once the child realises that his parents are really interested in his welfare he might be willing to meet them halfway, rather than demanding his own way all the time. Children living in problematic families must be counselled by psychologists.