Literature Review on Types of Discipline Essay

2.1.1: Vandalism According to article ‘What is vandalism’, written by Dye1, she defined vandalism as a crime that generally involves the destruction, disfigurement of public or private property. A person does not have to destroy a property to be charged with vandalism. This crime can include acts that simply demise a piece of property. For example, a person may rip the seats of a school bus. The bus is still operable, but its value and its ability to be used are greatly reduced. Kraus (1979) said that vandalism consequences are often simply causing trouble and anger. One aspect of school vandalism is often reported in research studies from the United States as the research from Rubel (1977) states that the connection of vandalism with other types of school crimes such as petty theft in the school and personal violence against staff and students. According to Cohen (1973) the public sees this type of behavior as threatening. Even though vandalism is directed at public property, the public still feared being victims of uncontrolled juveniles that roaming the street. 2.1.2: Absenteeism Then, Heathfield2 defined absenteeism as the chronic absent from work or study. Absenteeism usually addressed through progressively stricter disciplinary measures that can result in the termination of the individual’s employment. This is generally governed by the institution attendance policy. Rayner & Riding (1996) cited Schostak (1980) in the United Kingdom that found at least 800,000 students absent from school for unexcused reasons. Webb (1993) suggest that approximately half a million students were absent each day. Students who have absenteeism problems generally suffer academically and socially. According to Baker and Jansen (2000), studies indicate that students who are absent have lower achievement and may be penalized on test scores. Sustained absences may lead to retention and truancy. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 1 http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-vandalism.htm 2 http://humanresources.about.com/od/attendancepolicy/g/absenteeism.htm 2.1.3: Truancy Wisconsin (2000) defined simple truancy as any absence of part or all of a school day for which a pupil’s parent or guardian has not provided a valid excuse†. According to Cavallari3, he states that many institutions throughout the world have difficulty enforcing mandatory attendance for a variety of reasons. Some students find it more worthwhile to enter the world of career and earn money for their families, while others struggle with coursework and choose simply not to attend class while others have difficulty getting to school because they live in rural areas. The reasons why students do not attend school are complex and seemingly endless, making mandatory attendance difficult to enforce. Some schools base part of a student’s grade on attendance, while others make an attendance percentage a requirement for graduation. A student must attend classes a certain percentage of the school year in order to advance to the next grade as the student can be held back in the same grade if he or she fails to meet compulsory attendance requirements, which some critics claim can discourage students from attending school at all. However, some advocates claim it encourages students to attend class because it means they can progress to the next grade level with their peers. 2.1.4: Smoking Henderson4 and her colleagues found that in their research about smoking habits and wider social environment in school, on average, 25% of males and 39% of females aged 15-16, reported that they either regularly or occasionally smoked. The age group of 14 to 18 years is most likely to attract towards the smoking habit and become an addict for the rest of his or her life as this age represents the growth of maturity where teens make choices for their life style and plan where they want to see themselves in the future. The teens are more conscious about their personality, styles and making up their role model as their inspiration in life. On the other hand, this is the age where factors like stress, attention disorder, psychological pressures and conflicts from parents play an important role in impacting the individual personality and most of the teens are seen fighting with these kind of problems due to lack of parental interest, or sometime over protectiveness of parents. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 3 http://www.wisegeek.com/how-can-schools-enforce-mandatory-attendance.htm 4 http://www.journal-archieves14.webs.com/848-855.pdf