Don Bosco and the Preventative System of Educational Discipline
The notion of “discipline” in education is often associated with a list of “thou shalt not’s.” As a consequence, the role of the teacher or administrator is to enforce the illimitable commandments listed in the handbook. Sister Mary Stigmata watches closely for the “Blues Brothers” to slip into vulgar speech, ready to deal out due punishment. Ed Rooney treats students with utmost suspicion in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” — he is ever to be feared and avoided, never to be loved.
The 19th-century priest and educator, St. John Bosco, provides a stark contrast not only to these Hollywood headmasters but also to the currents of his age. The Napoleonic Wars had just ended, and Italy was in the midst of rampant industrialization and urbanization. John Bosco (eventually known as “Don Bosco”) was born in 1815 to a family of Italian farmers. He was an athletic and talented young man who loved God, sports, and circus acts. He would often learn acrobatics and juggling from traveling circus bands in order to put on a show for his friends. Then, once he had their attention, he would teach them about the gospel or repeat the homily that the priest had given on Sunday.
Bosco carried his joyful and playful disposition into adulthood. Ordained a priest in 1841, he focused his ministry on the orphans of Turin, Italy, especially young boys who struggled to find work. His friendliness and jovial attitude proved attractive. Soon, he gained a following and eventually founded a school for the boys of Turin, where he developed his theory of education.
At that time, Bosco realized young boys were being educated in one of three ways. The first was the school of “hard knocks”: homeless boys would wander the streets learning to steal, gamble, and survive. The second involved learning a trade through the intense and laborious work of factories or quarries. If students were lucky, they could avoid both and receive their education in traditional schools under what Bosco termed the “repressive system.” Under this system, young boys would attend school and be subject to their teachers' harsh, authoritative rules. Rather than experiencing the leisure necessary for learning, the main task of students was to avoid the displeased eye of their administrator. Ultimately, this educational system was as ineffective in curbing bad behavior as the streets or the factories.
Contrary to these forms of education, Don Bosco saw the purpose of education as forming young people into virtuous citizens. In the end, he thought this was best achieved through three pillars: reason, religion, and friendship. He called his system of education the “preventative system.”
With regard to reason, Don Bosco saw his students as human beings created by God with the capability of knowing the difference between right and wrong. If teachers use reason to encourage their students on a path of goodness, they can strive to “prevent” misconduct, reducing the frequency of “repressing” it. With regard to religion, Bosco recognized that young people are persons with souls, possessing an inherent need for community and relationship—not only with each other but with God. Bosco thus advocated for his students to attend Mass and confession frequently as the means for them to encounter God.
Bosco’s third tenet of “friendship” or “kindness” is what often confuses modern educators. Bosco was a strong advocate for friendship between teachers and students. This is a faux pas in the contemporary educational world, often seen as unhealthily narrowing the gap between educator and pupil. Yet for Bosco, if Christ can call us friends (John 15:15) without narrowing the gap between God and man, then surely teachers can do the same for their students. We must, of course, be careful here. Bosco was not an advocate of being “buds” or “pals” with the students, but rather advocated true friendship in the Aristotelian sense, that is, a relationship in which both parties seek to be virtuous while also seeking the good for the other. This requires the teacher to recognize the goodness in each student and encourage that goodness through praise, correction, and kindness.
This friendship was the hallmark of Bosco’s system of preventative discipline. Students will behave well and perform well when their teachers and authority figures are a constant presence in their lives. This presence will thus “prevent” ill behavior and foster the good in the student.
For Bosco, the teacher's role consists of articulating clear, simple rules and then supervising like a loving father. Teachers must converse with their pupils, counsel them in times of need, and correct them when they err. Teachers must be present not only when they have to discipline their students but also in their recreation and play. In Bosco’s Oratory, the students flocked to the “supervisors” because they didn’t just monitor their students but joined them in their activities, acting as role models even in times of playful fun. This not only forms the character of the students through the example of their superior but also acts as a preventative measure in that the students won’t want to do wrong when they are in the presence of their teacher. Constant, joyful presence lessens both the possibility and, more importantly, the temptation of errant behavior.
In the words of Don Bosco, education is “a difficult art and God alone is its true master. We will never succeed in it unless He teaches us the way.” For Bosco, God shows us the way in Jesus Christ, who takes on human flesh and draws people to himself through reason, religion, and friendship. In imitation of Christ, then, Bosco tells his teachers: “Let us strive to make ourselves loved, to instill into our children the high ideal of duty and the holy fear of God, and we will soon possess their hearts.” This is the essence of the preventative system, a simple and timeless remedy for many ills plaguing the educational world today. Through this system, Bosco believed he could form errant youth into good citizens and virtuous men and women.
