Crisis of authority in our times

For a society to be strong and healthy, respect and obedience toward authority is a necessary ingredient. This is missing in modern society, where authority figures are often disobeyed, disrespected and disregarded.

It all starts early in life within the family, as nowadays most parents are too tired after getting home from work to demand obedience from their children. It then spills over to the school setting, where teachers find it hard to impose discipline in the classroom, making it difficult for them to teach. When teachers complain to the parents about the misbehavior of their children, more often than not, they don’t get the needed support. Most of the time, the parents take the side of the student, labeling the teacher as the aggressor instead of the victim. As a result, nowadays educators often are forced to “look the other way.”

No wonder we are now suffering a severe shortage of that precious commodity called “teachers,” at a time when they are needed the most.

Later in life, those same students who never learned to obey and respect authority at home or in the classroom continue the same trend throughout their adult lives. Now they don’t respect their boss or any other authority figures, including the representatives of law and order. They try to cope with their problems by blaming others for their failures, which continue to pile up, only increasing their frustration and anger. This then becomes a vicious cycle, often leading to drug abuse, depression, homelessness or prison.

What I have described is known to all of us. Changing this intolerable situation needs to start at the family and school levels, where the rebellious personalities are being incubated.

We also need to stop paying homage to rebellious public figures, so often idealized by the media.

Dr. Carlos Muniz is a retired psychiatrist from Gainesville. He may be contacted through the editor at editor@towerpublications.com

Columns Archive