Discipline

I believe that there is a time and a place where certain punishments are more acceptable or make more sense. For example, I believe that people who commit heinous crimes such as murder or grand theft should be sent to prison, or be put on the chain gang. While I do believe that this undoubtedly hardens them rather than reforms them, I think that they may be beyond the point of reformation and will act more civilized due to fear of going back to prison, not because they were reformed. 

            I think that more moderate punishments do work if the circumstances aren’t as serious. There should be a scale upon which punishments are handed out depending on how much the action impacted society. For example, I was caught stealing a pencil from a book fair when I was in the second grade. My punishment was extremely moderate. I had to sit out of recess for a week. I can’t think of a more fair punishment, and the end result was me never stealing anything again because sitting out of recess is absolutely brutal for a child. Once again, that was not a big crime so I suffered a small punishment that ultimately did reform me. I was also able to maintain a good relationship with the teacher who dealt out the punishment. 

            On top of a strict punishment, I think a good explanation of the punishment is necessary in order to preserve the relationship and result in the ultimate goal of reform. Going back to the stolen pencil example, I remember my teacher sitting me down and telling me why what I did was wrong. Once I was able to understand that I had made a mistake, the punishment seemed fair and I no longer complained. I accepted my punishment and learned from the mistakes that I had made. 

            On my high school baseball team, we had an absolute stud of a player that had MLB dreams. Because of this, he may have had the biggest head in the whole state. One night he went out drinking and posted an incriminating picture of himself on Facebook. While the whole team was understanding but also frustrated, the coach would have none of it. In addition to him serving the mandatory 2 game suspension, my coach demanded he sit out the remainder of his junior year. As you may have expected, the team’s record and chemistry went down the drain quickly. The player quit the team and no one was happy with the coach. He administered too hard of a punishment. If I were in his shoes, I would have read the cues better and lightened the punishment for the good of the organization. No one benefited from that harsh punishment, it only drove the team apart. This is a prime example of how a balance must be reached so that each party is happy. 

            

            I was able to speak with the player afterwards as we were teammates. He claimed that he was done playing baseball for our high school and that he was not coming back next year. I graduated so I am not sure if this happened, but it just goes to show what happens when someone receives a punishment that is unreasonable, they react unreasonably and relationships are ruined.