The Lost Art of Discipline

[Lunaris Adamantine]

One thing I have noticed more and more over time that there is a pretty large lack of discipline in the world lately. This applies to both self-discipline, and discipline from parents, supervisors, or other types of lead figures.


It's clearly been an issue in places I have worked, including my current job. People blatantly disregard rules and regulation, sometimes in front of those who are supposed to enforce the rules, yet they are never disciplines for their actions. It once took my supervisors over seven months to fire someone who was reported for breaking many different rules, multiple times a day.

Currently, I work in a warehouse. There are signs that specifically say there is not to be any cell phone use at all on the warehouse floor. Yet roughly eighty five percent of my co-workers waste a total of at least 5 hours a day on their phones. Sometimes they are texting, sometimes making calls, sometimes even making a post on Facebook. My supervisors know this is a problem, and have told me that it needs to be dealt with, but they do nothing to stop it.

In addition to my own situations, others have told me stories about similar problem. One guy causes a whole mess of trouble for the hard workers, wasting loads of time, but those in charge do nothing about it.


So what do you think? Have you seen a similar situation where discipline isn't handed out? Or do you think there is enough discipline already in this world?

 

[Somewhere_]

My math class was pretty bad last year. There were a few students in their that made learning (and teaching) nearly impossible, but they were never disciplined accordingly. And I also had a teacher last year that probably should have been fired because she acted immature. All she did was fake cry, real cry, complain, and call herself a bitch.

 

[Neil Peart]

I don't think there's any less discipline today than there ever has been. One could make the argument that with technology comes more distractions, but where today's workers are wasting time with their phones, yesterday's workers were wasting time with idle chit-chat and cards.

 

[Her]

In regards to discipline & modern technology (read: phones and PS4s) I think because our generation are the first to have such advanced technology marketed at them on such an overwhelming scale, we're naturally going to have trouble phasing it into our lives without being totally consumed. However, it's very easy to use them as a scapegoat for those being anti-Millennial and whatever. It seems to be a generally conservative bloc of people who think this generation doesn't compare to the previous ones or whatever, when that statement has been said to the baby boomers and beyond. It's just an older generation not being able to understand its progeny. Or iMessage for that manner. Or bloody Microsoft Word.

 

[Lunaris Adamantine]

Regarding technology, I understand that we are the first generation that has had this sort of technology our whole lives. The problem I have with it lies with the self-discipline that I mentioned before. I have a cell phone, and use it for just about everything. But I know when it's inappropriate, and don't use it when told not to.

The biggest concern in the warehouse I work in is that everyone is either driving a forklift, or riding on a motorized pallet jack. Being on a cell phone can be a huge distraction, which in this setting can be extremely dangerous. And this next part is where the corporate discipline comes in. They do nothing to stop it, even though they know that someone could easily have their leg crushed before they knew it.

In this scenario, the lack of discipline can lead to injury or death. I realize that's not the case in many situations, but it's still important for companies to have in any work environment.

 

[Her]

I'd say that's simple corporate incompetence that has existed since the dawn of business - employers & employees aren't any less stupid and/or negligent, it's just the means of expressing that which has changed.

 

[gimmepie]

I could not agree with Harley any more than I do. She just hits the nail so hard on the head.

There has always been inefficiency in people with a position of power. There are always going to be people who break the rules. There are always going to be incompetent leadership.

The introduction of technology and the like might make these problems more noticeable, but they're no worse than any other era. There's a lot of people from older generations, especially baby boomers, that like to blame technology or changes in parenting. The truth of the matter is though that they're simply blaming what they can't understand for problems that already existed.

 

[Arylett Charnoa]

I have spent many of my years isolated in my room, and in these years, I developed a strict emotional discipline for the words I say and the things I do. So this has left my impressions of the outer world rather... flavored. To me, people just don't seem to take things seriously enough. I find it baffling. Everyone is so laid back and standards do appear low. In my short foray into the working world, I found that there really weren't as many standards as I was expecting. My second job in particular was disorganized as all hell. People just seem to say and do whatever they want with little consideration for others' feelings. They have such limited self-control.

Now, whether or not the world has become less disciplined lately, I cannot say. I really don't know how things were in the past. But from my limited knowledge of history, I think waaay back when, during the middle ages, discipline probably was more strict because of how life and death everything was. (One with more knowledge can correct me if I'm wrong though.) I think that the convenience of technology may have contributed to this lackadaisical nature people have, as well as gaining more and more freedoms from the government. From tyrannical kings to the relatively cozy lives we live (in developed countries), humanity just hasn't evolved to learn how to control itself without being supervised by some authority figure. Even I struggle with discipline; I feel I could still be more disciplined. We all have a lot to learn about self-control.

 

[Pebbles]

i shouldn't talk about this because it winds me up when people have 0% discipline in their bodies

my family is terrible when it comes to having discipline... boyfriend as well from time to time....
i know i am not perfect but i feel like i got the most self discipline, like it is unreal
also when i look at people in school..... some people are soooooo terrible

and i don't get it... it only causes them to get in trouble with stuff sometimes and it looks like they do not care and learn from things that almost went wrong...

oh and parents with no discipline which causes their kids basically not getting raised the appropriate way.... oh that really disgusts me :|
​

 

[Thepokefansophia]

Well I am not out in the big world of work yet so....

But yes discipline. Alot of the kids in my class are very distracting, they are rude and they tell the teachers to " f*ck of" and storm out. Literally every lesson a member of SLT ( Senior Leadership Team ) has to come down shout at us and when he/she goes all the chattering comes back no matter how much my teacher tries and settles the rest down.
Its actually kind of upsetting when you can see how stressed they are making her.
But discipline is not working at school because even if you give them the punishment they still keep on doing it.
Although the root cause could be their parents? I know my classmates are 14/15 and are taking weed and drinking. One of them even egged my ex-friends house.
But I think the girl told me that she lies to her parents and tells them she is going to a friends house and gets that girl to confirm with her parents.