Over the past few days, two interesting arguments were made in the interest of giving our children the education they need. First, it was said that over-protection of children discouraged the development of critical thinking. The second argument ostensibly supported the first argument, but referred to the breakdown of discipline in the nation’s classrooms and called for action to rectify the situation.

Both arguments have merit, but only if the call for tighter discipline isn’t taken too far. To end the overprotection of our children and the mollycoddling of their personalities and to encourage cognitive development, the last thing we need is the kind of rigid discipline that focuses on passing examinations at the expense of actual learning.

It has been argued in recent years that precocity in the young, whether intellectual or behavioural, is a good indicator of success in later life. Rebellion against the codes imposed by adults allows them to move forward with the knowledge and abilities they acquire from the myriad sources they expose themselves to by their very stubbornness.

Now, discipline has its place in life. Hard work and dedication are the cornerstones of any kind of success, but “discipline” as commonly understood in our system is unbending acquiescence to authority and is a joke and a half. Discipline truly matters in its application to one’s goals, but discipline by punishment is merely another tool in a machine that ensures that all we get are squares.

It’s no wonder we aren’t competitive. We aren’t encouraged to have that drive to question and challenge authority, and when we do, the strict adherence to hierarchy ensures that seniority instead of the validity of an idea is considered first. Respect your elders, yes, but do so by correcting what is wrong because it is well past time we disabused ourselves of the notion that all our children need to do to succeed is be good little soldiers.

If anything, the education system must be restructured to take in the needs of the children themselves. How much knowledge truly seeps in after a long day at school, followed by hours in cramped tuition classes? How many students have transitioned into university only to find themselves floundering for lack of communication skills and leadership qualities?

Perhaps the argument to be made here is that the adults themselves need to learn more discipline in exercising their seniority over students. The world is changing rapidly, and the sooner our children can fend for themselves by their own volition, the more stable they will be in adulthood.