Reprimanding Students: Do you agree that it is OK to reprimand the students in front of class?
This article discusses about the meaning of Reprimand. Read to know about the meaning of reprimanding and about why teachers reprimand students. Also read to know about whether it is correct to reprimand in front of others and my personal opinion over it.
Today, education is no more the same as it used to be centuries ago. Today education is different in many aspects. Some things have changed; in fact many things have changed as time has passed over centuries. With the passage of time, we have come across many negative aspects in the education systems, particularly in India and we have come across many negative aspects of education systems also. But there are some negative and some positive aspects always in everything in this world.
Here I am going to discuss about a very big aspect of education system and that also, in India it is very common to be observed, witnessed and judged. We call it reprimanding.What do you mean by ‘Reprimand'?
Well, reprimand is a word which describes some form of punishment and insult. These days, and since always, especially in India, the teachers have come reprimanding the students and that also in front of the class. These reprimands may be in vocal scolding, and also beating of someone in front of anyone or everyone.Why do teachers reprimand the students?
The teachers of Indian schools, especially reprimand the students of India because they think that they need to keep the students in discipline and they opt reprimanding the students the right way in which they get bring themselves back on the track so as to perform as the teacher wishes. It is possible and most of the times, it is the thing that teachers are actually trying to help the students in this way, at least they think that they are helping by reprimanding the students.
It maybe because the students do not finish a given class work, home work or any other curricular activities, which was given by the teacher and was expected to be done. It may be of various other reasons like attitude problem of the students in the class towards studies etcetera. Is it OK to reprimand the students in front of the whole class? – Different Thoughts
Well, this is the real thing which we need to discuss in this post. We need to decide in ourselves whether the reprimanding of the students in front of the class is a right thing done by the teachers, whether it is agreeable by all or whether disagreeable by many others. There are so many who say that reprimanding the students is always good and they have their own common perceptions and dealings when we talk about the given matter. But there are many other people who now feel that a change is required. And it is the reason why even the government in India has said that at least in government school, no teacher shall beat any student or reprimand in an extremely ruthless manner. Now let me tell you the things about which different people talk when related to the given topic.Thoughts of those who are in the favor of reprimanding the students in front of all the class
Many people still in India believe that in order to make the students perceive a better attitude, complete their studies in nice manner, become punctual, become fully disciplined they need to be reprimanded in front of the whole class. They say that there is completely no problem in reprimanding the students in front of the whole class and they say that it is totally okay because the teacher is indirectly in the favor of the student because he is trying to make the future of the student better by doing this. Let us see how these people agree that reprimanding the students in front of the whole class is okay.
Students are always kids - Many people say that students are not bigger than the age of the people who are teaching them. So that means that even if they get insulted by their teachers, they must not feel bad because they are not people who are very grown up and therefore their self respect must be controlled because it is not a matter of getting raged towards the things which the teachers do by reprimanding the students.
They say that even if the students are reprimanded in front of the whole class, there is no problem at all, because the person who is reprimanding them is elder than him and the people in front of whom he is getting reprimanded are his own peer. That means, he does not need to feel insulted and that bad because peers are always people who understand what it feels like when their colleagues are reprimanded.
Teachers do it for the students - Many people say that the teachers do not have a bad plot against the students whom they are reprimanding. They say that the teachers are actually trying to purify and make the students better in their moral fields so as to help them in the future. They say that teachers who do not reprimand students in front of the class do not actually care about the students because only those people scold or reprimand someone who has some care about them.
These people say that teacher must be thanked for this because they are taking the pain to make the student stand up in front of the whole class and that the teacher is actually taking the pain reprimand him. They say that they solely do it for the students and that teachers never have grievances for the students.
Students are being trained - They say that even if the teachers are actually helping the students by reprimanding them in front of the class, but even then some students do not accept this fact and they create grievances for the teachers in their hearts. This is not to be done because they say, this will benefit them later in their life because people are always not in a mood to act as you think they would act but then you need to face many difficulties in life and getting reprimanded actually helps in this matter because you are already having an experience of been insulted.
Students must be reprimanded from time to time - They say that if students are not reprimanded from time to time, that is, if they are not insulted between intervals, and especially those who do not have good attitude, then those students will fall in big problem later and in their professional lives, they will suffer much more than the reprimanding. Thoughts of those who are not in the favor of reprimanding the students in front of all the class
There are many humans still in the social world of India who think that students must not be ill treated as such. They think that students must be taught with utmost care, affection and love and support. They think that without the reprimands also, the students can be taught in a really fine way and that reprimanding the students is not good at all. Now let me tell you about the most common thoughts and believes of people who do not think that it is okay to reprimand the students in front of the whole class
Students are like wet clay - Many of the people who do not agree that reprimanding the students in front of the class is good, say that students are like wet clay. That means that they are a form of life which can be molded in any shape or design. This means further that the students must be taught with utmost care. They must not be reprimanded in front of the whole class because it is really a bad experience for the students.
Students do have self respect and self confidence - The people who understand that reprimanding the students in front of the class in not okay, know that by reprimanding the students in front of the whole class, the teachers are actually hearting the self respect of the students. They know that the self confidence of the students really gets quaked when they are reprimanded among their peers.
Students do ‘require' reprimands - They agree that if the students are sincere in the class, they do not necessarily require any reprimands because this is an unnecessary thing to disturb the student further, in order to bring the child on the track. If the students are cared with love and are taught with words filled with learning attitude, then the students can easily understand the hardest concepts and the students do not require it like an alarm.My Personal Opinion
Since the Group Discussion is in the form of a resource contest, so I had to put things like a resource, but then it is actually a Group Discussion so it is necessary to post my own and personal opinion about the topic.
I am not in the favor of reprimanding the students in front of the whole class. I don't think that students are soulless people and that they do not have emotions. Teachers need to learn the fact that students have a self respect too and that even if they do not react ever in a bad way, but somewhere they have a grief that they got insulted for it. I think that reprimanding a student in order to get him on the track is not good at all because it makes him feel downtrodden among their friends because they have no more freedom to speak up as they used to speak up because if they did so, then (they feel that) maybe they get reprimanded by their friends also and then there would be no bigger insult.
If students need to be punished, then without reprimanding them, there are various other ways, in which they can be punished like calling them after the classes and talking to them. I do not think that students need to be even punished because who does not commit mistake but here, since the teachers have an authority, then the students are actually being shown their mistakes.
“Silence poses more strength than the noise".
I am sure that you would have heard this noise. Those teachers who keep on scolding the students every now and then do not have more value and respect among the students who manage to keep the students controlled without reprimanding them. It actually means that if you do not talk to someone, it does not mean that the person, whom you need to tell something, cannot feel that specific thing, but he will surely be able to feel the thing. That silence would be more effective for sure than a slap which you put on his cheeks.
Reprimanding the students sometimes also refers to the impatience of the teachers towards their duty because they are getting a necessity to reprimand the students and that without reprimanding; they are not able to control the people. That shows that people in the class, those students do not have respect for the students. So in short, the teachers are insulting themselves by reprimanding any student in the class and in front of all his peers.Short Conclusion
- I am not at all in agreement that reprimanding the students in front of the class is okay because reprimands really torture the self respect of the student and rather than helping them emotionally, they make them feel obliged, insulted, ashamed and their self confidence gets targeted adversely.
So being myself a student, I would like to appeal to all those teachers who think that reprimands are the best way to get the biggest form of discipline out of the students that please do not reprimand any student. By this you are insulting yourself and not helping either yourself or the students.
Believe me teachers, you can actually create a place for yourself in the hearts of the students and that is what is only able to get the most disciplined students out of your classroom. All you need is a heart and some emotion for the students.
Hello Gyandeep, it is an good insight on the subject, yes it is true the education in India is not like what it was many years ago, reason is obvious, eagerness to learn this has put lot of pressures on both student and teaching faculty, more over even students are also not like students of many years ago, there was a slow and steady pace in previous times as the entire years outcome will used to come in a single time expose that is in examination, but now a days that system has been changed to shorter duration, which also puts both students and teachers in a lot of tension and pressure, many cannot sustain such pressures it may be student or teacher, under such circumstances it is bound to happen like reprimanding the students, though it is not good in practice, but it has been seen in many occasions, sometimes in a good intention.