Discipline and Restraint
Without discipline and restraint where would this world be? Where would we be?
We all have someone or something we learn from or look up to. We can be told who to like or who to admire, but does it really work like that? No, it doesn’t. We all are given the power to choose from birth. But growing up everyone has two, or in some cases one, person they learn from, their parents. Their parents teach them discipline but restraint, well that’s something they teach themself. Restraint is something you’re in control of, you can chose to control yourself or not to. During a time referred to as the Age of Reason, those were the two main ideas that were practiced with much dedication and heart.
The Age of Reason brought about discipline and restraint. We all learn from different time periods and different time periods had different morals. Each time period leaves a large impact on the outcome of every ones lives.
Many powerful writers appeared during this time. One of the many is Benjamin Franklin, he wrote what he felt or what he was thinking or doing with his life. In his autobiography he spoke of the “thirteen names of virtues.” (131) This was the type of discipline that he tried to follow, and it required restraint on his part to try to follow these virtues.
“1. TEMPERANCE Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.”
“2. SLIENCE Speak not but what may benefit other or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.”
“3. ORDER Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.”
“4. RESOLUTION Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fall what you resolve.”(132) The first four of these virtues seem hard enough that it would take most of a person’s strength just to follow them. Yet these four not only show the need for discipline but the importance of restraint.
“5. FRUGALITY Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e. waste nothing.”
“6. INDUSTRY Lose no time; be always employed in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.”
“7. SINCERITY Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.”
“8. JUSTICE Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.
One cannot help but think about how these principles can be utilized in one’s personal dealings. Loyalty, decency, and lifting up of your fellows are wonderful ideals to strive for in friendships, marriage, and in the rearing of children. It is difficult to think of any place in our lives that these ideals would NOT be applicable.
man wants or respects in the commercial world.’2 This previous quote has proven, over time,
“You get your mind off money and eat your breakfast” (Act 1, Sc 1, 28).
Benjamin Franklin’s goal at this point in life is to master all thirteen virtues. He decides to make a discipline sheet showing his progress and what he didn’t do on those days “I might mark, by a little black spot, every fault I found upon examination to have been committed respecting that virtue upon that day.” (Pg. 271, Franklin). He is determined to give a week’s strict
...importance of virtue here is that, virtues are needed for living well; But in order to obtain
For me, these are some of the hardest questions to answer, because in my opinion you can’t control someone’s social or emotional behavior in the attempt to facilitate an open learning environment. However, you can provide alternative avenues within the classroom for students to achieve academic success. I refer back to the current Conscious Discipline by Becky Bailey in that for a student to learn they must be open to information or positioned in their “frontal lobe”. When a student is in the defensive/fight flight mode, learning is practically, if not, impossible. With that said, you must keep an open mind that social behavior becomes a “status” pro-quo in that a student is always trying to position themselves in the classroom hierarchy and
“My intentions were to acquire the Habitude of all these virtues, I judg’d it would be well not to distract my attention by attempting the whole at once, but to fix it one of them at a time, and when I should be master of that, then proceed to another, and so on till I should have gone thro’ the thirteen” (Franklin 93). He believes that if he masters all of these virtues that he will become the perfect individual. If humility is the thirteenth one, than it must be the most important one in his life, or at least a closure to a perfect lifestyle. He made a book in which he allotte...
6) Integrity- Do what is right at all times, even when no one is watching.
Adams, Gordon. “To thine own self be true”. American University, 2012. Web. 19 May 2014.
The great secret of morals is love; or a going out of our own nature, and an identification of ourselves with the beautiful which exists in thought, action, or person, not our own. A man, to be greatly good, must imagine intensely and comprehensively; he must put himself in the place of another and of many others; the pains and pleasures of his species must become his own.
Moral perfection. This was Benjamin Franklin’s way of living “..without committing any fault at any time” (Franklin, 63). Benjamin Franklin was very specific about the way he intended to live his life and the person he was aiming to become. Franklin seemed to believe that since he knew right and wrong, there was no reason not to always do right and avoid the other. This might have seemed like a crazy task, even impossible. However, Benjamin Franklin was determined to try to achieve this perfect lifestyle. In previous letters that Benjamin had received for encouragement to right and publish an autobiography, men had described him in many ways that made him worthy. Men used words such as your frugality, diligence, and temperance ( Benjamin
In October of 1998, the Courant’s survey of the 50 states identified that 142 individuals died in physical restraints or seclusion. Another study was done in four Turkish hospitals from July to September of 2005. The study’s findings were, “Nurses used either wrist, ankle, or whole body restraints at various levels. Those nurses who worked in surgical intensive care units and emergency departments and had in-service training used more physical restraint than did others. Only a third of nurses decided on physical restraint together with physicians and three-fourths tried alternative methods. Nurses reported edema and cyanosis on the wrist and arm regions, pressure ulcers on various regions, and aspiration and breathing difficulties in relation to physical restraint.
Thus, when virtues involves in some personal pain, the idea of purpose or need become very important as it deeply depends on self-control. Self-control becomes extremely important when virtues entails stepping out from person’s comfort zone, here you can distinct a virtuous person from others. A virtuous person can control himself and abide to rules and morals whatsoever, while people with no self-control but claiming being virtuous might forget their morals and values in some situations. In conclusion, I argue that there is a connection between virtues and happiness, however I have showed some situations that virtues may lead to unhappiness or confusion.
go the extra mile, and to help anyone in need in the process too. Another quote
The definition of punishment is “a penalty inflicted for an offense, fault, etc.”. However, there are many forms of punishment. One type of punishment is “logical consequences, this technique is similar to natural consequences but involves describing to your child what the consequences will be for unacceptable behavior. The consequence is directly linked to the behavior. For example, you tell your child that if he doesn't pick up his toys, then those toys will be removed for a week” (Benaroch), taking away privileges, time outs, and corporal punishment or spanking.