Dear Readers,
Despite the advances in science and technology, the deterioration in people's relationships and behavior in recent years is of great concern to us all. One of these negativities is the inadequacies in raising children in a disciplined manner. Children who are not disciplined in the family are harming themselves and the society as a whole with their transgressions on the streets and in school environments. It should be considered important to inform people about discipline in line with the requirements of the age. We have to change our understanding of discipline by taking into account the changes in family and social structure. We have to understand that today's Generation Z children cannot be educated with traditional attitudes.
The concept of discipline is a concept that should be given importance in terms of the continuation of social life. In the dictionary sense, it is defined as a set of measures taken to ensure that people actively adapt to the thoughts and behaviors of the community in which they live and get efficiency.
Discipline is a necessity of education and one of the indispensable competencies of social and educational environments, acquired through the education given in the family and school. It is considered important to protect the individual's capacity to use his/her free will while providing him/her with competencies such as compliance with norms, responsibility and fulfillment of roles.
When we define democracy as the balancing of fundamental rights and freedoms and discipline, we also reveal the importance of discipline. Discipline, which is one of the indispensables of social life, also refers to the norms that must be followed in any group environment.
The word discipline is used in many different areas of daily life with many different meanings. The practice of discipline, which is seen as the most important in terms of the continuation of life within certain rules and order, is among the requirements of healthy social life.
In our culture, the concept of discipline primarily evokes the concept of oppression and authority. However, discipline includes the necessary measures to ensure that fundamental rights and freedoms are exercised properly and without harming anyone. Discipline means establishing and implementing the norms necessary for people to develop and get along in common living spaces.
Discipline primarily teaches the child how to behave. Through effective discipline, the child learns to internalize the beliefs, values and rules that are in the best interest of self and others. However, before the child can internalize them, the parent must demonstrate the rules, values and beliefs by reducing them to the concrete through words and actions.
Discipline teaches the child to control his impulses. Because the child acts on impulse, his judgment is poor. He acts before he thinks. Adults give children opportunities to think first and then act. Effective discipline is that which is in accordance with reason, logic and the development of the child (Yavuzer, 2003, p.144).
Discipline is the process of preparing individuals to live in harmony with themselves and their environment through the habits they acquire. By teaching responsibility and the rules that must be followed, discipline also ensures the development of morality, which means internal control. Internal control cannot be achieved through external coercion. It can only be realized through discipline based on love. Discipline is about internalizing responsibility and is not synonymous with punishment. Early developmental years, the period when the first basic habits are acquired, are also considered critical in terms of discipline. For this reason, the preschool period has a special importance in terms of discipline. In this period, practices that support and complement each other in the family and kindergarten should be included.
When disciplining a child, it is a bit difficult in the first years to make them do the right thing. This is because the child is insistent on doing what he/she wants. Children do not yet have the necessary reasoning ability to distinguish between right and wrong. Nevertheless, it is important to set limits on the child's behavior when necessary. Even if the child is trying to push the limits, the desired behavior should be repeatedly explained to him/her with reasons. Setting limits is the restriction of a child's behavior for some clear and understandable reasons. The main principles of discipline are determination, certainty, continuity, calmness and rewarding (Yavuzer, 2003).
It is important that the above-mentioned disciplinary principles are carefully implemented in families and schools. The principle of stability refers to acting decisively and not changing attitudes in disciplinary practices; the principle of certainty refers to not hesitating when expressing rules and expectations and not making norms a subject of discussion; the principle of continuity refers to always behaving in the same way; and the principle of rewarding refers to the use of appropriate feedback and appreciation.
Discipline is the process of preparing individuals to live in harmony with themselves and their environment through the habits they acquire. Discipline teaches the individual responsibility and the norms to be followed and enables him/her to gain self-control competence. Discipline aims to enable individuals or groups to control their behaviors in order to achieve the aims of education (Büyükkaragöz and Çivi, 1996).
The purpose of discipline is not to passivate children, but to raise them as conscientious and self-disciplined individuals who know their rights and are responsible towards others. People who grow up without discipline do not recognize rules, laws and order. For this reason, they have to be excluded from society.
Discipline aims to provide individuals with the competence to control and evaluate their own behavior. It is also very important that the school and the family help the individual to perceive which of his/her actions are right and good, and which are wrong and bad, according to the values of the society in which he/she lives. Therefore, the school and the family should teach the child the desired behavior and then monitor the child's performance of this behavior.
In discipline classifications, two types of discipline are usually mentioned. These are a) external discipline in the sense of discipline imposed by others, and b) internal discipline or self-discipline in the sense of self-discipline.
a) External Discipline
There are also two different approaches to external discipline. These are a) traditional discipline and b) positive or constructive discipline.
In the traditional discipline approach, the focus is on blame and accusation. In the positive or affirmative discipline approach, the focus is on repairing the harm and hurt and on constructive and peaceful resolution of the problem. While the traditional approach focuses on the past behavior of the offender, the positive approach focuses on the future. In the positive discipline approach, the rights and needs of the offender are very important. Positive discipline encourages the offender to take responsibility for his/her own behavior (Hopkins, 2004, 144).
| Feature | Traditional Discipline | Contemporary (Positive) Discipline |
|---|---|---|
| Core Objective | Ensure obedience | Develop responsibility and self-discipline |
| Method | Punishment, ban, threat | Empathy, guidance, solution-oriented approach |
| Contact | One-way, commanding | Two-way, respectful and open |
| Problem Solving | If he did it, he will be punished. | Why did he do it and what can he learn? |
| Conclusion | Fear-based adaptation | Internally motivated behavior |
Positive discipline is also referred to as constructive discipline in the literature. The basis of this understanding is that it emphasizes positive emotions and developmentalism. People who grow up with positive discipline practices become more autonomous, self-confident and honest.
Table-1. Comparison of traditional and contemporary disciplinary approaches.
When raising children with positive discipline methods, it is necessary to develop their emotions as well as their behavior. This leads to children's voluntary acceptance that a behavior needs to be prevented or changed, and thus positive external discipline by the parent leads to the development of self-discipline in the child.
The core value of positive discipline is to correct the offense and repair the harm itself, rather than responding to crime and violence with another crime and violence. Since relationships are broken and ruptured, the social expectation is to repair and mend relationships and people as much as possible. Broken relationships should at least be restored. Repairing and healing the damage is the core value of the Positive discipline approach. As a value, positive discipline promotes integration, forgiveness and compassion. By repairing the harm of the harmed and the harmed, people are reintegrated (Roche, 2001, p. 341).
The aim of the positive discipline process is to give the harming person the opportunity to repair the harm and to repair the relationship. The aim is to repair the relationship through communication, problem solving and mediation (Drewery, 2004, 332).
Positive discipline should not only mean “no punishment” or “letting everything go”. This approach helps children to develop internal discipline by guiding them with love and respect. Traditional discipline is based on fear, positive discipline is based on understanding. Positive discipline is aimed at character development, not just behavior. It is not external control but internal responsibility.
Children acquire a positive understanding of discipline in the family environment in which they grow up before school and are influenced by a certain understanding of discipline practiced in the family. Parents can make their children listen to them by loving them unconditionally; by taking into account their logical, physical, emotional, social, intellectual and educational behaviors; by meeting their creative needs. If they spend quality time with them, help them to perceive and explore the world in unique ways, be patient with them, appreciate their learning efforts in a timely manner, correct undesirable behaviors in a positive manner, they not only fulfill their responsibilities but also lay the foundation for positive discipline in school (Humphreys, 1999).
In the family, parents should act jointly in terms of the parental attitudes they apply at home, stay away from traditional disciplinary practices, show enough love, set a good example, give importance to communication within the family and pay attention to family peace.
The responsibility for establishing positive discipline falls on adults as well as children. Because children learn many behaviors from adults through modeling. In other words, adults are always a model for children. Teaching children to control themselves in the space they are in is considered an important step towards positive discipline.
It is a requirement of modern education that teachers avoid traditional disciplinary practices. When they fail to ensure self-control in students and discipline in the classroom, they have to spend most of the time they would allocate for learning to control them. This can negatively affect both relationships and academic achievement at school.
b) Self-discipline
According to Duckworth (2009), self-discipline is the ability to use one's willpower to achieve one's goals and to maintain desired standards. In the literature, having self-discipline is characterized by making a conscious effort to postpone strong impulses and giving up instant gratification in order to achieve some long-term goals (Budak, 2009; Duckworth & Seligman, 2006).
Duckworth (2009) defines self-discipline as knowing how to plan one's behavior, how to manage one's emotions and thoughts, and having the ability to do what one desires rather than doing what others command.
The concept of self-discipline encompasses processes such as willpower, self-control, responsibility, self-regulation and determination to pursue set goals (Duckworth et al., 2011; Lungka, 2014). Self-discipline, which can be expressed as a character strength and a basic virtue, appears as a desired competence in all ages. In the literature, the concepts of self-control, willpower, self-regulation, self-motivation, fulfilling goals, self-control, regulatory behaviors, responsibility are sometimes used instead of self-discipline (Duckworth & Seligman, 2006; Gorbunovs et al., 2016; Mens, 2016; Tung, 2013).
Self-discipline, which is an important derivative of the concepts of willpower, self-control, self-regulation and responsibility, has been used in daily life (Kannangara et al., 2018), academic achievement (Duckworth & Seligman, 2006; Durrant, 2010; Gong et al, 2009; Hagger & Hamilton, 2018; Mbaluka, 2017; Zhao & Kuo, 2015; Zimmerman & Kitsantas, 2014), social life (DeBonove et al., 2011; Uziel & Baumeister, 2017), and business world (Diestel & Schmidt, 2009; Sintemaartensdijk & Righetti, 2019). Indeed, self-discipline is vital for individuals to take responsibility for their own lives (Brooks & Goldstein, 2007).
In addition, studies show that self-discipline has a significant contribution to the emergence of positive psychological outcomes such as life satisfaction (Briki, 2017; Hong & Cui, 2020), subjective well-being (Ronen et al., 2016; Nielsen et al., 2019), happiness (Cheung et al., 2014), meaning of life and positive emotions (Stavrova et al., 2018).
However, one of the life stages in which self-discipline gains more importance is young adulthood. This is because young adulthood is an important turning point where individuals make important decisions regarding their professional and personal lives (Akbag & Ümmet, 2017) and start to take responsibility for their lives.
To summarize, self-discipline affects human life in many ways. Therefore, the acquisition of self-discipline is often encouraged (Uziel & Baumeister, 2017). Governments make great efforts for their citizens, schools for their students and parents for their children to acquire self-discipline skills (Bear & Duquette, 2008; Chong et al., 2014).
As a result, a positive or constructive discipline approach enables children to both recognize their responsibilities and generate solutions. Positive discipline contributes to the development of children as self-confident, empathetic and problem-solving individuals. A relationship-based environment is created in the family or school where positive discipline is practiced.