Will New Disciplinary Rules for Students Be Effective?
China’s Ministry of Education recently posted on its official website a draft of rules regarding how teachers in primary and middle schools should carry out student discipline, asking for suggestions and comments from society. The draft has more explicit rules than ever before on what kind of discipline teachers are allowed to practice in specific circumstances, so that they will not have to worry about repercussions from students or parents.
The announcement of the draft is being applauded by those who believe that such rules are long overdue. Teachers nowadays tend to turn a blind eye to misdeeds by students, fearing that their interference will bring disaster upon themselves, as there is no lack of examples of teachers being rebuked or even beaten by parents for disciplining their children. However, a rise in campus bullying is believed to stem from the absence of necessary school discipline.
Although, on the whole, the rules have been well-received by the public, some people worry that once teachers are granted the right to discipline, they will act at their own discretion, which means more detailed explanations of the practices are needed.
More clarification Wang Shucheng (
China Youth Daily): Teachers’ disciplining of students has increasingly become a sensitive topic. Usually, the focus is on whether disciplining itself is proper or whether it will incur parents’ antipathy. But little attention is paid to whether it is effective or necessary. This kind of cautiousness has led to the absence of standards and coalescing of discipline in primary and middle schools.
Educational discipline is undoubtedly necessary. Currently, there is a voice loudly calling for happy education, claiming that “there are no bad students but only teachers who can’t teach well.” This kind of concept is turning a blind eye to the fact that all students are different and to the positive function of discipline. In this sense, the rules are good news, since they make clear what can and cannot be done, so that student discipline can be practiced in a legal way at school.
The document seeks to make clear distinctions between discipline and physical punishment, forbidding teachers to conduct the latter in any form. However, some things remain unclear. For example, one article reads that teachers should “properly demand the student do more sports.” What exactly does “properly” mean? Is there a criterion? And what kind of sports should be required? In addition, there are not many new practices for teachers to adopt, since many in the document are already in use.
Regardless, the rules are just a draft. It is necessary to explain them and win more understanding and support from the public. In such a vast country as China, it’s possible that some schools in some places are able to follow the rules while others are still unable to for various reasons.
Beijing Youth Daily): In recent years, there has been an increasing sense of rights and self-protection on the part of students and their parents. A certain
Yan Nong (
type of discipline, which is meant to be good for students, may be read as a disguised form of degradation, even though teachers believe it’s within the range of student discipline. Sometimes, discipline can also cause uncomfortable feelings, both physically and psychologically, so it’s hard to decide whether certain acts of discipline are proper and reasonable.
In ancient times, the belief was that outstanding students were guided by strict teachers, but nowadays, using positive feedback is the trend, and clearly defined student disciplinary rights for teachers are needed. This is a process of the rational evolution of educational concepts. The addition of educational discipline demands consensus among schools and parents. Indeed, love and care is important in education, but without necessary discipline, students will ultimately be victims of loose rules.
Protecting everyone’s rights Fang Qingjiang (
Workers’ Daily): Today, students who like to play tricks or hate to study face criticism from their teachers, but it is void of any strict discipline. Reproach alone often fails to persuade students to improve their behaviors.
Since primary and middle school students are still minors, educational discipline should be based on protection, and that’s why Chinese laws and regulations explicitly ban physical punishment of students.
It’s important that oral education play a dominant role in managing students, but this does not mean schools cannot apply necessary disciplinary practices. Educational discipline allows students to understand the price of doing what they should not, so that they can develop respect for rules. Of course, teachers have the right to discipline students, a right granted by their profession.
To make clear their rights to discipline students will help to maintain basic order in schools and daily teaching work. Meanwhile, they will also have clear steps to follow that are designed to cope with specific situations.
Liu Hao (tl.wenming.cn):
Teachers are
obligated not only to impart knowledge but also to help students correct their daily behaviors if they breach school rules or don’t have much interest in schoolwork. Before the draft of the new rules came out, there were few explicit regulations on how teachers should discipline students. What often happens is that parents will complain about teachers or even rebuke and hit them if they think they have said or done something that has hurt their children. With these precedents as warnings, teachers usually refrain from doing anything to discipline students even if they have made serious mistakes. School bullying and juvenile crimes are on the rise in recent years and are suspected of being related to the absence of school discipline.
Meanwhile, teachers should know that they can’t practice discipline haphazardly, but need to strictly follow the new rules.
Schools are places where students are supposed to learn and build good character. A tranquil academic atmosphere should not be compromised by a fraction of disobedient students. Teachers must be brave enough to discipline students who bully classmates or even vilify or beat up teachers. As for this type of student, according to the draft, he or she should be suspended from class, disciplined or transferred to another school that is capable of dealing with him or her. Thus, the rules will help to deter these students and standardize their behavior at school.
Zhang Huihong (www.people.com.cn):
To standardize a teacher’s right to discipline students in the form of laws will make the process more persuasive and effective.
Educational discipline relates to students’ rights and teachers’ accountability, and thus there must be legal reference for its practice. The draft offers an explicit list of conditions, methods and limitations for disciplining and also the accountability that teachers must assume if they abuse their right to discipline. Teachers can now resolve the dilemma of not knowing whether they should interfere, while at the same time, standardized discipline will help to protect students’ legitimate rights.
Frequent occurrences of school bullying tell us that superficial criticism is not able to deter bad deeds, let alone correct behaviors. There must be more severe punishment. Schools should show some tolerance toward students, but they should not enable bad conduct. The draft proposes different levels of discipline. The methods have been accumulated in the process of long-term educational practices by teachers, which are supposed to be accurate and efficient.
Strict discipline actually demonstrates schools’ and teachers’ love for their pupils. The draft stipulates that educational discipline should have caring for students as its purpose and follow the education law. The final goal is for students to obey school rules and strengthen self-discipline.
Moderate and proper educational discipline will make students realize the pain of being punished so that they will keep this unpleasant memory in mind and gradually develop the sense of following rules and systems. However, discipline is not a panacea for correcting students’ behaviors. Parents should not shirk their own responsibilities of educating their children, but they need to cooperate well with teachers to restrain their children. If students suffer from physical or psychological damage due to accidents or personal reasons, teachers should be exempted from punishment as long as they act in accordance with relevant rules and regulations.