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Latwell Nyangu Youth Interactive Writer

If we do not discipline ourselves, the world will do it for us and a disciplined mind leads to happiness, and an undisciplined mind leads to suffering.

But what when they take on us, many times we are left with an egg on our faces unless you are contumacious.

Students’ indiscipline at college has become a cankerworm that has eaten too deep into the students’ moral upbringing.

Greetings fellow students, I hope I find you well and progressing. This week my duty is to talk about indiscipline which has reached another level.

Fellow students we have become uncontrollable and highly disrespectful to ourselves, lecturers, college authorities, parents and the society at large.

My tip is simple, suffer the pain of indiscipline or suffer the pain of regret.

Our family, guardians, authorities cannot remain complacent when large human and material resources are wasted, indiscipline is rampant, an atmosphere of insecurity, frustration and instability are created in colleges leading to ineffective learning.

I have noted of late that some fellow students are moving around boasting that they are the untouchables of college and they should be known.

Some of them have engraved their names in the toilets or in the classroom walls. Graffiti on classroom and toilet walls, and use of drugs has destroyed many of our fellow student’s reputations.

At times I wonder why would someone in search of academic achievement write their names on the walls of toilets.

I used to think such behaviours are old fashioned or are found in high schools but I was lying to myself, even the adults can act in that manner.

You see some names on the walls that so and so was here, even the desks are designed with names.

And we all should wonder, are we only at college for learning purposes or some of us are there for different reasons.

Indiscipline in the classroom is a phenomenon which — owing to its extent and its social resonance — requires the attention of all those who are involved in lecturing and there is need to get at the root causes of indiscipline amongst learners with a view to finding a solution.

Since I started this column, I have brought different issues affecting the students and even highlighted the life of a student at the and off the campus.

I have talked about dress codes, uncontrolled drinking, party animals, procrastination, dissertations, plagiarism, blessers, among other topical issues. But I feel I haven’t touched on discipline, this is something critical in life. Without discipline, we are a disaster, fellow students.

 As students we portray different types of indiscipline behaviour among which include boycotting of lessons, watching and practicing pornography, lies telling, violence, dishonesty, disobedient to lecturers and authorities, alcohol consumption, confronting and stabbing lecturers, vandalism, lateness to college, cultism, drug abuse, insulting/assaulting, stealing, rioting; among others.

The extent to which students’ indiscipline behaviours in colleges are correlated with are not known whether these influences emanate from the perspectives of our peer group, parents’ socioeconomic achievements, parent’s attitude, lecturer attitude, college culture, climate and environment; and the magnitude of disorder it triggers in college.

The bottom line is, what strategies should be put in place to curb this deviant behaviour.

All of these are equally contributed to the fact that students come from different family backgrounds, economic status, cultures and values.

What should be known is that indiscipline in college greatly affects the quality of lecturing and learning, uncovered university curriculum.

Achievement of the goals of tertiary education largely depends on the positive disposition of students in their academic work and the instructional performance of lecturers.

Many students have been sacked from college due to indiscipline.

A major task facing tertiary educational administrators is the continuous existence of the problem of dropouts, deviant behaviours, examination malpractice, lateness and poor academic performance among students.

Records showed that most of the students involved in cultism in higher institutions started it in their secondary school days. The need has therefore arisen for college administrators, lecturers, parents and the general public to eliminate indiscipline in colleges.

Discipline in colleges is an essential element in the socialisation of students, in the formation of their character and in the process of education.

Learners are entitled to an education free from frequent disruptions in a safe and secure environment.

Most prevalent forms of learner indiscipline include truancy, non-completion of given work, verbal attacks on other learners and lecturers, graffiti on classroom and toilet walls, and use of drugs. I have noted that many fellow students with disruptive behavior come from troubled homes where there is erosion of nurturing family structure.

Lecturers’ code of conduct such as relationship with learner, and lack of commitment lead to learner indiscipline.

In Zimbabwean colleges many cases of indiscipline abound and it is important to note that indiscipline in colleges affects the learner more than anybody else.

Too much freedom can lead to the development of indiscipline.” …

These students cultivate and demonstrate deviant behaviours and may never fulfill their potential. They become burdens to society. There is an outcry of authorities and parents about the increasing rate of indiscipline in colleges. 

This observation unsettles the mind of disciplined students since the young one generation is considered the future leaders.

Different authors have defined discipline in various terms in which some say discipline is to teach the students manners on how to show respect to authorities, to observe the laws and regulations and to maintain an established standard of behaviour.

 From this definition the college has a primordial role to play in instilling discipline into their students. The earlier young people start using drugs, the greater their chances of continuing to use them and become addicted later in life. 

Taking drugs when you are young can contribute to the development of adult health problems, such as heart disease, high blood pressure, and sleep disorders.

However, it is fairly common for teens and college students to experiment with alcohol and drugs but being disciplined takes us somewhere fellow students.

The consequences of indiscipline end in tears.

Small disciplines repeated with consistency every day lead to great achievements gained slowly over time.