Welcome to myschoollibrary. Today’s lesson, we will be looking at the topic “Discipline And Courage”. Previously we looked at “Integrity and Contentment“. If you have been following up with our lessons, you would have noticed that these topics are together but for better understanding, we had to split them into different periods. At the end of this post, I will refer you back to the previous lessons, so don’t panic.
Here is our lesson for today!
Lesson Note
Subject: Social Studies
Class: JS2
Topic: Discipline And Courage
Learning Objectives: by the end of the lesson, the learners should have learnt the following:
1. Meaning of the terms discipline and courage
2. Benefits of discipline
3. Consequences of indiscipline
4. Causes of indiscipline
5. Types of courage
6. Attributes of courage
DISCIPLINE
Discipline is a term with various meaning. In a simple form, it means training one to produce obedience and self control. In this sense, we talk of school and military discipline. It may be used to refer to punishment that is intended to produce obedience for breaking rules. Hence, the statement ‘if you flout the rule you will be disciplined’. It may also be used to mean a statement of order and control gained as a result of training. It may also be used to refer to a branch of learning studied at a university such as an academic discipline.
For the purpose of this lesson, our emphasis is on discipline as training in self-control. So a student is said to be disciplined when he compiles with a code of behaviour often known as the school rules. Among other things these rules may set out the expected standards of clothing, timekeeping, social behaviour and work ethics. The term may also be applied to the punishment that is the consequence of disobeying the code of behaviour. For this reason the usage of school discipline sometimes means punishment for breaking school rules rather than behaving within the school rules.
Self-discipline means that we must be orderly and obey the rules even when there is no one to hold us to account or force us to obey them. It means willing compliance and doing what one should do to get an activity going. Without discipline cooperation will not be possible. Hence, disciplined students obey rules regardless of the presence of prefects and teachers. Disciplined citizens obey laws and they contribute to an orderly and peaceful society.
The Benefits of Discipline
Discipline is very important. A disciplined society is orderly and neat. Things work as planned. A simple example of discipline can be observed in the area of waste disposal. If people do not put refuse in the bin and instead throw them on the floor, the school premises will be filthy and unpleasant. The environment becomes dirty. A dirty environment can lead to the outbreak of various kinds of diseases which affect the quality of life of students.
Indeed, discipline is necessary for the effective provision of services. When people are not disciplined in the workplace they will be unable to carry out their duties properly. This leads to inefficiency or poor performance and poor results. To be absent from school or place of work without good reason is an act of indiscipline, so also is laziness and incompetence. When discipline is absent, these acts will become common place and affect the effective performance of tasks.
Consequences of Indiscipline
Indiscipline is a failure or refusal to submit one’s desires and actions to orderly social conduct and recognise the rights and desires of others. The term can also mean lack of control or an exhibition of bad and poor behaviour. Below are some of the consequences of Indiscipline:
i. Lawlessness and Corruption: Indiscipline often leads to lawlessness and corruption. When people are not disciplined they are more likely to be lazy and rude. Thus, undisciplined people are likely to be rude to parents and elders or even constituted authorities.
ii. Poor Leadership: Undisciplined people are likely to be bad leaders. They are likely to be late from work, absent from their duties and generally impossible.
iii. Increase in Crime: Most social vices arise from lack of discipline. When people are not disciplined, they are not likely to succeed in the things they embark upon. Thus, they may resort to cheating and crime. Destruction and vandalisation of public property, profiteering, oil bunkering, black marketeering as well as poor maintenance culture are other consequences of indiscipline in the society.
iv. Breakdown of Law and Order: When people are undisciplined, they are unable to obey rules and follow laid down procedures. Hence, they are likely to be agents of disorder and filth. Refuse dumping and littering of the environment are also consequences of indiscipline.
v. Disrespect for Natural Symbols: Disrespect when the national anthem is being sung, recitation of your natural plesege and lack of honour for the national flag are all the result or indiscipline.
Causes of Indiscipline
i. Unstable Home Environment: As a result of the separation of parents (through death or divorce) children may lose the required guidance that they should receive from their parents. They are left to their own devices and are not trained on basic social behaviour and morality. Try become undisciplined as a result of this situation.
ii. Impatience: When people are not patient they are prone to behave in an undisciplined manner. This is a major cause of indiscipline in Nigeria. For instance, at Bus stops, some people prefer to force their way to the front insteyof joining the queue and taking their turn. This kind of act usually leads to disorderliness.
iii. Lack of Self-Will and Self-Confidence: Somebody who does not have Self-Will and confidence is likely to be easily influenced to do what is not right. Some people may become undisciplined by carrying out dubious acts that constitute improper conduct.
iv. Peer-Pressure: There is a saying ‘show me your friend and I will tell you who you are’. Another one says ‘birds or a feather flock together’. If a person is disciplined but associates frequently with a bad group, his or her disciplined character will give way, as he or she gradually cultivates loose habits. Many promising young men and women have become criminals in this way.
COURAGE
Courage, also known as fortitude, is the ability to confront fear, pain, danger, uncertainty or intimidation. Courage is one of the very important values of an individual because to posses any high moral standards, a person must be able to sustain courage in the face of difficulty. Courage is highly priced in the military. For a person to be ready to defend his or her country against its enemies that person must be courageous as he or she may have to do this with his or her life. A courageous person is not afraid to keep pursuing a cause even in the face of persecution and opposition.
Types of courage
Courage can either be physical or moral. Physical courage is manifested when one shows courage in the face of physical pain, hardship and threat of death. It is the willingness to expend physical energy in order to get things done.
Moral courage is demonstrated in the face of shame, scandal and discouragement. It is the ability to do what is right irrespective of pressure to do otherwise. Moral courage may also relate to one’s faith or religion. In this wise courage will then mean the ability to live according to the teachings of one’s faith in spite of pressure to do otherwise.
It is well understood that physical and moral courage matter in the military, and there are ample illustrations of courage in religion, sometimes to the point of martyrdom, or losing one’s life.
Attributes of courage
Courage involves the lack of fear in a situation that would normally generate it. Courage does not mean that one would not be afraid. It means that one is able to overcome it. But courage must be distinguished from foolhardiness or foolish boldness. A person is said to be courageous if he or she overcomes a justifiable fear for an even more noble purpose. If one’s fear is not justifiable, or the exercise of confidence is for a purpose that is not noble, then the courage is either false or foolhardy.
A courageous person is a determined person. The person has clear ideas or his or her goals and the nobility of those goals. He or she is willing to endure hardship. He or she works hard to achieve those goals. He or she is committed to the and he or she is not distracted by the attractions of immediate pleasures. He or she pursues a thing until he or she gets result(s).
Assessment
Now that you are done, assess your learning progress with the following questions.
1. Explain the terms discipline, indiscipline and courage.
2. Describe two benefits of discipline and two attributes of indiscipline.
3. State the consequences of indiscipline and causes of indiscipline.
4. Mention two types of courage.
5. State three attributes of courage.
Our previous lessons:
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