Multi-disciplinary (Part 2 of 2)
Whether the motivation is noble or otherwise, one cannot deny the pragmatic implications of discipline, that is, to preserve an important order necessary for the existence of a system. Ask any parent if he or she wants to see his three-year-old run amuck in a supermarket grocery turning over juice cartons on Aisle 22 and you will see what I mean. The humiliation is enough, I suppose.
Progressive societies in history have always deemed discipline as a crucial factor in achieving its goals. The Roman, Greek, and Persian empires, just to name a few, have pioneered very specific rules that have helped them determine an order that was to be followed for centuries hence.
This is probably the reason why liberals (i.e. the young and the restless) shun discipline. The protection of the entrenched status quo, as opposed to the unfettered freedom of choice and opinion, is seen as archaic and oppressive, and therefore must be fought.
For a wide-eyed, bushy-tailed kid however, the dynamics of discipline is pretty black and white. Your parents are the enemy, and therefore must be resisted at all costs. Any punishment they inflict or bestow upon you is bad, no matter what they say. If it makes you whimper, cry, and throw an ugly tantrum, then it must be wrong, right?
But naturally, this is simply one side of the discipline equation. The parental discipline story is often overshadowed by that of the sad, sometimes messy picture of the erring child. Sad, but true.
Ah, to be a naughty kid. I was a very naughty boy and thus the subject of discipline would never fail to amuse or amaze me. Usual punishments for my delinquency included standing in the corner of a room, a delayed mealtime, or the worst: a spanking.
A kid is only bound to do two things: accommodate the said punishment (which would make things easier in the long run), or resist (which would make things more difficult, but hey, kids do not easily see it this way). Resistance usually comes in the form of tantrums or outright refusal to perform said punishment, which would often result into even more pain, actual or otherwise.
Psychologists say that discipline ought to serve two main purposes: to properly identify the error committed, and secondly, to appropriately correct this either by restoration or retribution. If someone’s 64-pack crayons were stolen, an apology should be delivered and the crayons returned. If a particularly hurtful teasing occurred, a lesson on courtesy and feelings is introduced.
But is this actually achieved? I am lucky that most of the time my parents have been able to point out my errors to me, and I have reciprocated quite well (if I may say so myself), but there are usually those moments that I feel even more resentful of them than before. Alienation creeps in, and the punishment is rendered ineffective because of the hurt that a kid feels. It’s easily overlooked, but discipline either reforms or estranges.
But, funnily, a kid eventually finds a way to reduce, if not completely eliminate parental discipline ergo the various forms of punishment that go with it. It is called, wait for it, growing up (the fair assumption being, of course, that maturity comes with age. But that is another story). Fair enough.
Growing up is a choice. And so is self-discipline. No one is going to be good or well-mannered or a “morally upright contributing individual of society” for you. You have to be able to prove all those to yourself. In my opinion that beats the coolness of defying or resisting of the status quo any day.
It’s a pain in the ass (sometimes literally), it stinks (not literally), but well, you gotta do what you gotta do. That is discipline for you.
Progressive societies in history have always deemed discipline as a crucial factor in achieving its goals. The Roman, Greek, and Persian empires, just to name a few, have pioneered very specific rules that have helped them determine an order that was to be followed for centuries hence.
This is probably the reason why liberals (i.e. the young and the restless) shun discipline. The protection of the entrenched status quo, as opposed to the unfettered freedom of choice and opinion, is seen as archaic and oppressive, and therefore must be fought.
For a wide-eyed, bushy-tailed kid however, the dynamics of discipline is pretty black and white. Your parents are the enemy, and therefore must be resisted at all costs. Any punishment they inflict or bestow upon you is bad, no matter what they say. If it makes you whimper, cry, and throw an ugly tantrum, then it must be wrong, right?
But naturally, this is simply one side of the discipline equation. The parental discipline story is often overshadowed by that of the sad, sometimes messy picture of the erring child. Sad, but true.
Ah, to be a naughty kid. I was a very naughty boy and thus the subject of discipline would never fail to amuse or amaze me. Usual punishments for my delinquency included standing in the corner of a room, a delayed mealtime, or the worst: a spanking.
A kid is only bound to do two things: accommodate the said punishment (which would make things easier in the long run), or resist (which would make things more difficult, but hey, kids do not easily see it this way). Resistance usually comes in the form of tantrums or outright refusal to perform said punishment, which would often result into even more pain, actual or otherwise.
Psychologists say that discipline ought to serve two main purposes: to properly identify the error committed, and secondly, to appropriately correct this either by restoration or retribution. If someone’s 64-pack crayons were stolen, an apology should be delivered and the crayons returned. If a particularly hurtful teasing occurred, a lesson on courtesy and feelings is introduced.
But is this actually achieved? I am lucky that most of the time my parents have been able to point out my errors to me, and I have reciprocated quite well (if I may say so myself), but there are usually those moments that I feel even more resentful of them than before. Alienation creeps in, and the punishment is rendered ineffective because of the hurt that a kid feels. It’s easily overlooked, but discipline either reforms or estranges.
But, funnily, a kid eventually finds a way to reduce, if not completely eliminate parental discipline ergo the various forms of punishment that go with it. It is called, wait for it, growing up (the fair assumption being, of course, that maturity comes with age. But that is another story). Fair enough.
Growing up is a choice. And so is self-discipline. No one is going to be good or well-mannered or a “morally upright contributing individual of society” for you. You have to be able to prove all those to yourself. In my opinion that beats the coolness of defying or resisting of the status quo any day.
It’s a pain in the ass (sometimes literally), it stinks (not literally), but well, you gotta do what you gotta do. That is discipline for you.