Discipline in School and at Home Essay

Sometimes, when people hear the words discipline, they picture kids gone wild. We did use gentle discipline. And in school and home have to a calm, peaceful feel to it. We also had a lot of fun. A lot of the preparatory works have to follow where discipline was concerned. We have to use to teach care of self, care of the environment, control of movement, and grace and courtesy. The sense of order, ability to concentrate, and self-discipline gained from those activities made all our later life easier. It helps our life be more polite to teachers and parents as well as to others. We believed in following God, respecting one another, being responsible, and doing our best. We can use demonstrations to show them how to treat one another and even how to respect others’ property. We learn how to treat our toys, books, and learning materials with care. We studied religion and used many character-education lessons and books. Discussions about values were common in our home. Current research demonstrates that quality relationships with adults and peers make a tremendous difference for young people. A sense of connection or belonging is an important protective factor. Students who perceive a sense of connectedness or community at school and/or home are less likely to engage in risky behaviors (smoking, using drugs, engaging in violence). They are also more likely to be successful academically. Young people who grow up in families that they perceive as both kind and firm are more likely to thrive. Positive Discipline teaches parents and teachers how to be kind and firm at the same time and how to invite a sense of connection from the youngsters they are involved with. The approach is neither permissive nor punitive. Positive Discipline is an effective way for parents, teachers and students to learn life skills and build a sense of community and connectedness based on mutually respectful relationships. Even though we didn’t follow a schedule rigidly, we have a schedule or â€Å"rhythm† for our days. More important, we have to the stability of parents and teachers who loved us and each other and spent a lot of time with us. Freedom within limits is a very important in our school and home. While freedom to follow our interests help us experience success and independence, the limits were extremely important as well. We only enjoy the amount of freedom what we could handle responsibly. PROBLEMS [pic] Some basic statistics create a picture of the problem. # More than 30% of middle school students report being victimized three or more times by peers over the course of one year. # In a survey of high school students nationwide, the Center for Disease Control found that 17. 4% of students had carried a weapon (e. g., a gun, knife, or club) on one or more days in the month preceding the survey. Male students (29. 3%) were significantly more likely than female students (6. 2%) to have carried a weapon. CDC 2001 data. 1 # The same survey showed that 6. 6% of high school students had missed one or more days of school during the 30 days preceding the survey because they felt unsafe at school or on their way to or from school. (CDC) # During the 12 months preceding the survey, 19% of high school students had seriously considered attempting suicide (14.8% had a specific plan). Female students (23. 6%) were significantly more likely than male students (14. 2%) to have considered attempting suicide. (CDC) # Nearly one half (47. 1%) of students nationwide had consumed one or more drinks of alcohol on one or more of the 30 days preceding the survey (i. e. , current alcohol use). And 30% reported episodic heavy drinking in the month prior to the survey (5 or more drinks on one or more occasions). (CDC) 1CDC Youth Surveillance data available at CDC website http://www. cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/ss5104a1. htm [pic]. HOW TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM The techniques used in Positive Discipline have been shown to have a positive impact on schools. A study of a school-wide implementation of classroom meetings in a lower income Sacramento elementary school over a four-year period showed that suspensions decreased (from 64 annually to 4 annually), vandalism decreased (from 24 episodes to 2) and the teachers reported great improvement in classroom atmosphere, behavior, attitudes and academic performance. (Platt, 1979) A study of a parent and teacher education program directed at parents and teachers of students with â€Å"maladaptive† behavior using the tools used in Positive Discipline, showed a statistically significant improvement in the behavior of the students in the program schools when compared to the control schools. (Nelsen, 1979). Smaller studies examining the impacts of specific Positive Discipline tools have also shown positive results. (Browning 2000, Potter 1999, Esquivel). At Home The young person’s sense of connectedness with his or her family is associated with positive outcomes. A national study of 12,000 adolescents showed that a sense of connectedness with their family was protective against every health risk behavior except history of pregnancy. (Resnick et. al. 1997) The questions asked of the teens in this large study included whether or not the teen felt wanted or loved by family members, whether they perceived caring by their mother or father, how many activities they engaged in with either parent in the previous week, and parental presence during different times of the day. b) At School. A young person’s sense of connectedness with school or â€Å"sense of community† in school is associated with positive social and academic outcomes. As above, there is a strong correlation with a student’s perception of being â€Å"connected† and the sense of â€Å"community† with academic and social well being. This has been examined by numerous researchers. Resnick, et. al. (1997) asked students questions such as â€Å"Do you feel that teachers treat students fairly? † â€Å"Are you close to people at your school? † â€Å"Do you feel part of your school? † He found that a sense of connectedness to school was protective against health risk behaviors. These findings are consistent with those of Goodenow (1993) who found a relationship between the students’ sense of belonging and their academic achievement and motivation. CONCLUSSION This was probably one of the most important parts of disciplinary approach. We respected our teachers and parents. Teachers and parents also respect their students and child with their opinions. As we grow older, we should be more decision-making responsibility. We felt respected and didn’t have a need to rebel because we know we would consider our responsible, well-thought-out ideas. For example, when I was in third grade or so, I had the choice of how to handle my schoolwork before a week-long trip during the school year. I decided to do two weeks-worth of work in one week, working day and evening to allow myself a week off during my trip. When there was a behavioral problem, we often used logical consequences. Even though we had a schedule, we didn’t follow the clock exactly. Our schedule is more assignment or project based. If we procrastinated in completing our work for the day, the logical consequence was that our school day lasted longer until our assignments were finished. The interventions included using class meetings, a constructivist curriculum, a focus on meaningful work and team building. In schools that successfully implemented the program the sense of community increased. More interesting perhaps was that examined individually, students with a higher sense of community were found to accept the established norms of the school, whatever those were. In longitudinal studies the researchers found that students coming from schools that had implemented the program to increase a sense of community and work for higher- level thinking, did better than their classmates from comparison schools when they arrived at middle. There is some evidence that a sense of community among staff members may be an â€Å"important precursor to the development of a sense of community among students. † (Royal and Rossi, 1997) Not surprisingly, modeling appropriate relationships among the adults seems to support students in developing appropriate interpersonal relationships. Teachers’ sense of community is also related to their job satisfaction and effectiveness. There are many, many studies (not individually cited here) that show that parental involvement is related to school success. Interestingly, when more closely examined, authoritative parenting is strongly related to parental school involvement and â€Å"academic encouragement,† both of which are associated with school success. The positive impact of â€Å"school involvement† is significantly less if the parent does not also have a â€Å"kind and firm† parenting style.