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"The great end of education is to discipline rather than to furnish the mind; to train it to the use of its own powers, rather than fill it with the accumulation of others." -Tyron Edwards

The incidence of trouble in our classrooms is no illusion.  We live in an violent society, reflected in the news, our entertainment media, the wars we fight, and the behavior of children in our classrooms. America has high rates of incarceration with millions of people in prisons and jails.  In schools, one aspect to pay attention to is safety--for example, the percentage of students each year experiencing bullying: (view diagram)

Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, School Crime Supplement (SCS) to the National Crime Victimization Survey. Table 12.1 in Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2003; National Center for Education Statistics, Bureau of Justice Statistics.

If we really wanted to eliminate all violence in schools, we would have such things as in-class security guards or cameras, and immediate consequences such as time out or suspension for all intentionally harmful acts. 

Yet we leave things up to the teacher, have no institutional system to double-check each class day or students’ daily behavior.  And students feel a major concern in school is their safety.  One teacher might admonish a child who hits another, another teacher might ignore the behavior, another could just give a disappointed look.  Rarely does it go to administration.

As a culture, we permit, and some even tend to idolize rebels, even the fist-fighting ones.  It is clear that somehow Americans prefer a little bit of chaos.  Why do we protect fighters?  Other cultures may shun unruly students to the point where they even commit suicide.  Our solution is to pay more attention, council, and try to heal children who may go on with their disruptive ways to a point of adult criminality.  What is the argument for the quick temper, and the big stick?

Proverb:

It might have to do with international relations and political philosophy.  And it may stem from eons of natural selection for the strong and active over the passive.  On the one hand, if America is to stand up to other bullies in the world, we want to protect those who are willing to fight.  Otherwise, we may have a lack of military might.  If all children are passive, we run the risk of raising a society that won't even defend itself when attacked.  It is a matter of simple survival.

On the other hand, being too permissive in the school, allowing violent second-graders to attack their peers day after day seems even less humane than dog fighting.  Isn't part of our responsibility as adults to protect children from environmental dangers, including each other?  Violence is just one aspect to consider regarding classroom discipline.  Other issues involve staying on task and not interrupting others, following proper procedures for such things as fire drills, attendance, test taking, and more.

Just as we don’t benefit from our adult wars, corruption, or lack of emergency planning for tsunamis or earthquakes, we don’t benefit from undisciplined classes.

Let’s consider a number of issues and authors (highly regarded published educators) with distinct viewpoints regarding the treatment of children, our educational systems and administrational culture.  As we do so we may find a sense to be better teachers, leaders or parents.  We can group general viewpoints of class management and style in this way:

1. Teacher-led discipline
2. Student-centered
3. Differentiated discipline