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OBEDIENCE: Cheerfully carrying out the directions given you by
those responsibly for you.
Vs. Disobedient or Subservient
- SUGGESTED READING:
Lord of the Flies
The Value of Discipline
The Red Badge of Courage
FAMILY ACTIVITY:
- Talk to your children about why you have to have family rules. Be
sure to explain why you place limits of their behavior to protect
them. At first this activity may not appear to be productive,
especially with small children. Over a period of years it helps to
make children more willing to do what is asked of them, and promotes
their critical thinking skills. Be open to suggestions from older
children about how to achieve the small objective in less intrusive
ways, this shows them that you really are seeking to achieve a goal
and are not using rules sole to punish them.
- Teach your children that they should respect and obey adults,
other than yourself.
- Talk to your children about times when they should not obey
instructions from another child, or even an adult in a position of
authority, such as if they feel its is wrong or dangerous to
themselves or others from them to obey.
CLASS ACTIVITY:
- Talk to the class about class rules and, in general terms, explain
why you have those rules. During the year periodically remind the
class about class rules.
- Play a game of Simon says.
- Young children need frequent positive reinforcement for obeying
the rules because it is difficult for them to understand why the
rules exist, provide that reinforcement. One way is to reward the
class with extra playtime if no one has to be disciplined during the
day.
- Teach your class some basic origami, while you are teaching it to
them emphasis that it only works by folding exactly they way they
are told.
HIGH SCHOOL ACTIVITY:
- Discuss the place of obedience in building character, why is it
important and what are its limits?
- Have students write a short paper on an instance in history or
literature in which by disobeying instructions a person or character
caused a serious problem.
- Have students write a paper about an instance in history or
literature about a time when a person or character obeyed
instructions they should have ignored, and thus caused something
horrible to happen.
- Have a class discussion about how a person can know when they
should trust the judgment of those in authority and when it would be
morally wrong to follow them.
"Ours is not to reason why, ours is but to do and die"
-Alfred, Lord Tennyson's Charge of the Light Brigade
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