I think it is disrespectful to teachers when the topic of children and discipline come to play. The question we should be asking is “WHO IS A TEACHER?” is it just the person that teaches a subject, one who impacts knowledge or the one who grooms a child… Let’s face the fact, back in school I dare not misbehave in the presence of some of my teachers, not because they were wicked and ruthless but because of the value they have added to my life. I knew misbehaving in their presence was like letting them down, I valued their opinion of me and would do anything to be in their good graces. This was the influence they had over me, and this is the influence a real teacher should have over their students. This is why I am often irritated when I hear teachers only complain about how they wish they could beat a stubborn child to get them to obey, when you hear them complain it will be easy to think the child is beyond redemption and thus is the worst monster as the sole called teacher has painted them to be.
These are the kind of teachers that stare up the debate of whether it is okay to discipline a child outside the school environment. A teacher that does not know how to influence the children they teach will struggle to correct them and will justify every disciplinary action they take in that regard. I will never call myself a teacher because I do not know how to be patient with people in the process of grooming them which is one of the qualities that brings the influence I am talking about. Parents are okay, but even they can not completely take the role of a teacher because their kids already know them through and through. A teacher is that influence outside the home that can help nurture the intellectuals of a child and help them to open potentials that even their parents have not noticed.
The topic of discipline can be questioned because teachers have in a lot of ways abused it, however I believe a well influenced child would value the words of their teacher both in school and outside school, so the question is that how much influence does the teacher have on the student? If there is great influence from the teacher then there is no questioning where discipline can happen. One of my teachers back then would always say, you can not discipline who you have not influenced because even the child under your influence may rebel, talkless the one you do not have influence over. Influence is a very big deal for any teacher, it makes the child fear you to a very good extent, just enough to stop when you say stop and retrace their steps. And influence is not gotten by age, it is just like respect, it is earned. It is seen in how you impact knowledge to the child and it is seen in how the child feels when they are around you. So if you as the teacher has not succeeded in influencing them, how can you then discipline them.
THIS IS MY RESPONSE TO HIVE LEARNER'S PROMPT FOR WEEK 201 EPISODE 1
