Experiments on conformity have been carried out which have established that for various reasons, people have an innate tendency to conform even if they know that others are wrong or when a "leader" or an "expert" insists that something that is plainly wrong is correct. Solomon Asch (1951) conducted his classic experiment in 1951 to investigate the extent to which social pressure from a majority group could lead a person to conform. In a school it is usually the teacher’s or the textbook’s interpretation that is accepted.I don’t know why I didn’t get into serious trouble but I used to teach my pupils the value of disobedience. It was the fear that they could follow charismatic but unscrupulous leaders and become unsuspecting objects of exploitation that I included this in my value education lessons. Children’s arguments can be quite exasperating but parents must try not to give into the temptation of saying: "You have to because I am your mother (or father) and I say so!"It has to be kept in mind that obedience is necessary for discipline. Today, not only is this form of valediction archaic but it would actually be frowned upon as it has connotations which are unacceptable by modern ethical standards. It is shocking to see young parents today being completely controlled by their offspring. Many people I know believe in unquestioning obedience to God, guru or teacher and parent.Apart from developing minds of their own, it is important from the educational perspective that the young learn to reason, China insert nut Factory question and argue in real life, in the classroom as well as at home. Even the traditional Christian vows that are exchanged at a church wedding are modified by many so that the bride does not pledge to "obey" her husband till death. This cannot always be peaceful. The point is, just as we need to obey the traffic rules to prevent chaos, obeying certain rules of day-to-day living is needed to lead a productive and meaningful life. Along with discipline they must value disagreement, disobedience and dissidence. "Please do something," they plead with the school authorities, "she just won’t listen to us!" Yet at times, when the school does take action over some misdeed of the child, the same parents protest or try to defend her. In board examinations, marks are not given when answers deviate from the fixed marking scheme. To counter this, it is vital that peaceful or non-violent ways of disobeying and dissenting are adopted. I find it amusing and sometimes infuriating when a man announces expansively that he "allows" his wife complete freedom!Even in unequal relationships such as child and parent and school student and teacher, where obedience is expected of the child, it is important for the child to be given the power of questioning why she should obey a particular order or . This is not only important in a democracy, it is also extremely important for shaping character, for developing individuality and for keeping at bay the herd mentality.
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