Indiscipline among students in Tertiary Institutions

By Amos Opemipo Idowu
|
In  recent times,  acts of indiscipline are  on the increase among students in  tertiary institutions in Nigeria and this has   increased immorality among them. Indiscipline refers to lack of moral conduct which is generally acceptable  in the society. It can also be defined as a behavioural disorder that comes as a result of mental, emotional and in some cases psychological displacement.

                The proper upbringing of a child is the responsibility of every parent, but some parents seem to disregard this natural fact. Therefore, many children suffer neglect based on  the negligence of their parents. This act of negligence  can be tagged as one of the causes of indiscipline in the society. The failure of parents to inculcate moral conduct in their children  later  tells a lot about their  upbringing   mostly  when they  are admitted into higher institutions.

                The environment in which a child lived is another determinant of social conduct that  a child will have when he/she grows up. Aside this, some students come in contact with  indiscipline as a result of their exposure to immoral acts which some refer to as environmental influence.

                Mercy Akin, a 300 level  student of Ambrose Ali University, Ekpoma (AAU) gave her opinion on indiscipline among students of higher institutions in Nigeria. She said, “the attitude of  some parents contribute to acts of indiscipline as their (children) learn from them. This upturns the moral status of a child therefore, there is tendency that such a child will grow up to become diliquent when she eventually get  into higher institution.”

                She said further that students’ exposure to violent films such as pornography, war film, wrestling. e.t.c reinforced their attitudes toward acts of indiscipline as most of them tend to praticalise media content they are exposed to. Violent films caused  lots of social disharmony as a result of various acts of indiscipline that ravaged our society today.

      Many students that  watched  these films tend to  imitate actions acted in the films. For example, the issue of sagging which is a common habit  among the students is mere imitation. Smoking is another act of indiscipline that is common among the students and this is considered to be hazardous to human health. It is medically believed that smokers are liable to die young.  Most of the student-smokers are influenced  by friends or peer groups to indulge in smoking despite the warming.

                Furthermore, couples life is another act of indiscipline that is rampant  among students in higher  institutions in Nigeria. The community or society basically has not been giving  great attention to this social decadence. This  immoral act  is against the principle of humanity because lot  of ladies commits  abortion  as a result of unwanted pregnancy. Often times, most of them easily forget their primary assignment in  the process of getting  pleasure which earns them nothing than emptiness. Most of the time, those that are in this act  turns out  to be children of religious leaders.

                By and large, indiscipline in Nigeria’s tertiary institutions is a condemnable act that both parents, guardians and the entire society should kick against.

 Idowu  is a student  of Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo