Norms of behavior in society as a moral duty

¹ CC BY 4.0 . © The Author(s). Publisher: IMCRA. Authors expressly acknowledge the authorship rights of their works and grant the journal the first publication right under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License International CC-BY, which allows the published work to be freely distributed to others, provided that the original authors are cited and the work is published in this journal.

Citation Mammadova S. (2025). Norms of behavior in society as a moral duty. Science, Education and Innovations in the Context of Modern Problems, 8(3), 1138-1145. doi: 10.56352/sei/8.3.69.

Main text.

In modern times, the development of the legal state and civil society in our country, the further expansion and strengthening of Azerbaijan's relations with world countries, the implementation of targeted reforms in the field of education require radical changes in social life. Because it is the society that has the greatest impact on the formation of a person. The environment surrounding a person - family, religion, customs and traditions, school, higher education institutions, work, state, organizations, etc. - all form a certain type of behavior and morality in a person, develop a specific worldview, instill in him moral values and ideals. This whole process takes place within society. The moral world of a person is formed through education and upbringing in society, as a result of the perception and assimilation of cultural achievements. Every society also has a certain foundation. Professor Zahid Garalov writes: “As societies differ, so do their foundations-economic structures. Each of the societies had its own ideology, politics, education system, moral dimensions, and worldview systems. They also differed from each other in the form and content of relations between people” [Garalov Z. I., Baku, 2008]. Along with all this, there are the most common features inherent in societies. Human rights and needs, the degree and form of their fulfillment have always been in the spotlight. Mutual relations between people occupy a special place in their ideology and in the formation of their morality. Man, as a bio-sociological being, cannot live outside of society. He learns humanity within society and confirms his humanity through his behavior in society, morality, and mutual relations with others. A person’s relationship in society ensures that he not only lives in this world, but also fulfills his duty for the hereafter. That is why the principle of conformity to society is of particular importance in education. Our behavior is carried out on the basis of the ethical norms we believe in. Raising the future generation with moral qualities is the duty of every parent as well as society. Just as moral education plays a great role in the formation of society, society and the social environment are also powerful tools of influence in moral education. In addition to family and school, the social environment also has a strong influence on the upbringing of children. A person can only actively show himself in the social environment. He cannot be a person outside this environment. The social environment creates opportunities for rich talents to emerge. The same environment affects children in different ways, depending on the level of upbringing and the ability to approach events. The social environment is also not unchangeable. As people change, circumstances create conditions for people. Work in the social environment should be organized in such a way that the future generation also understands humanity, and when they see positive examples, noble moral qualities are formed in them.

The history of the development of society shows that there is no unchanging morality, seemingly eternal moral rules undergo various changes over time. As the basis of moral norms in society changes, it itself also changes and acquires new content depending on development. Especially since we live in an era of rapid development of information technologies, the Internet has become an indispensable element in society, family, school and other social environments. The development of modern ICT forms the ability of schoolchildren living in an information and knowledge society to reveal their personal sides that others cannot see [Mammadova S. Baku, 2019].

Although the Internet has many positive aspects, it is important not to overlook the dangers it poses. Thanks to the Internet, it is possible to develop virtual communication, establish mutual relations, access national and international libraries, be aware of international media, receive distance education, obtain information and data in various fields, acquire knowledge and skills, learn a foreign language, watch useful feature films and documentaries, etc. In addition to other useful and wonderful opportunities, there are also unpleasant information, pictures, videos, virtual games with various contents, pages and various social networks that contradict human nature and beliefs. Such situations also have a very negative impact on people's behavioral norms in society. They also create negative moral qualities in their behavior towards people. In order to prevent such dangers, the education system should develop new mechanisms, and most importantly, children's activities on the Internet should be constantly monitored by parents and teachers.

In the world, serious attention is paid to the protection of children within the framework of policies in the information society, audiovisual products and media spheres. One of the important elements of the system for ensuring the safety of children on the Internet in the European Union is the “Safer Internet” program adopted in 1999 [Problems of protecting children and adolescents from the harmful effects of the Internet. Baku, 2013]. The purpose of the creation of the program is to combat illegal and destructive content (destructive content) behavior and to ensure the safety of adolescents by raising their awareness. The areas of activity envisaged for implementation in the program include financing projects aimed at creating a safe online environment for children and adolescents, supporting Safer Internet Day, organizing a Safer Internet Forum, mutual cooperation with other international organizations, etc. The new generation perceives technologies very quickly, and parents often cannot keep up with children in this area, which is why they cannot control their communication and behavior in the virtual world. That is why the main burden for the safe use of the Internet falls on schools and teachers. Including in the curriculum the rules for safe and beneficial use of the Internet, its harms, organizing extracurricular and extracurricular activities on various topics, organizing seminars and discussions, teaching them the rules of conduct on the Internet, communication culture, as well as methods of protection from the dangers of the Internet are very important problems today. Moral education is also the basis for solving such problems, as morality plays an indispensable role in the formation of a person. The core of society is man. Society is formed and develops thanks to people. There is no society without people. It is impossible to imagine a society without morality. In any society where attention is not paid to moral education, there can be no talk of development.

According to Ibn Miskaveyhi: “ethics is considered the highest of sciences because it chooses to educate human behavior as its goal. Therefore, human nature has its own characteristics and behaviors that are not found in other living beings. When his behavior does not match his nature, he notes that a person is like a horse that has been harnessed and put in the place of a donkey because he cannot fulfill his equestrian qualities” [Miskaveyhi I. Baku, 2012].

The professor writes that the main conditions for truthful education are to collect correct information about events, objects and people, to acquire real knowledge and to try to awaken a sense of faith in the truth by conveying it to others as it is. The education of truth in schools is one of the most important tasks. MT Sidqi wrote: "The goal of education is to accustom a person's mind and heart to truthfulness, to get rid of bad habits, habits of the heart and bad natures" [Ibrahimov F., Huseynzade R. Baku, 2013].

According to Professor Zahid Garalov, the power of education and knowledge lies in the fact that, while teaching the growing generation the rules for understanding simple truths, it also arms them with the skills to independently search for complex truths. Education to do the right thing is that a person acts only within his rights, carries out his activities and desires within permissible limits. The foundation of education for intelligence and intelligence is laid from childhood. If a child is constantly in search of cause and effect, pays attention to the words and behavior of adults and the elderly, is able to distinguish good from bad in the information he receives, and systematically studies academic subjects, he will undoubtedly develop positively. Education to correctly understand laws is carried out by gradually learning scientific knowledge from simple to complex. One of the main lines of teaching academic subjects at school is education to correctly understand laws for the future generation. Health education is considered a religious and moral duty in Islam, and it is considered an important task for everyone to be educated to fulfill this duty. Health protection should be included in the system of self-education so that the moral debt is fully paid. In order to educate in the spirit of struggle, it is necessary to teach the future generation, first of all, the object of struggle, the reason, the ultimate goal, the ways of struggle, methods and means, the conditions for achieving victory. The fight against ignorance initially begins with family education, continues at school, is strengthened in labor collectives, and becomes a reality in life. “The existence of equality between people in society takes a fundamental place in the establishment of social relations” [Garalov Z. Baku, 2003]. However, the fact that people are fighting helps to keep the stagnation occurring in society in balance and prevents the violation of order. When we talk about the upbringing of a culture of serving the people with dignity, we see that the spiritual, religious, and political face of every nation finds its full development in its homeland. “How we live in this period of time given to us, how we become worthy citizens of society and our people depends on the upbringing given to us.” [Garalov Z.I., Baku, 2003]. A humane attitude towards people is an important component of moral education. Every public institution, society as a whole, is obliged to create a humane atmosphere in the environment surrounding people. Unfortunately, this duty is not always fulfilled with dignity. Cruelty is formed in the character of a generation growing up in such an unhealthy environment. Examples of sources that create cruelty in the future generation include: “family, school, mass media, films, screen media, written works, children's literature, events on the streets, etc.” [Garalov Z.I., Baku, 2003]. All examples of cruelty should be fought against and the inculcation of humanistic education should be strengthened. Comenius called the school “the educator of humanity, the cradle of humanism”. A school that is the cradle of humanism should also educate humanistic people. Educating a trustworthy person is considered an integral part of morality in our religion, and it is considered an essential duty for a Muslim to be a trustworthy person in all areas. Every change that occurs in society affects people’s morality, either for better or for worse. Therefore, in the modern era, moral education should be built on new foundations, and the moral qualities inherent in our people should be instilled in the future generation so that they can also assert themselves in society. Professor Zahid Garalov writes that human behavior in society is one of the moral duties. If people can fulfill their moral duties and universal human relations normally, they have good morality. He was the first to use the concept of “Azerbaijanism” education as a norm of moral behavior in society and suggested taking this concept as one of the components of education and its implementation in a complex education system. proposed to clarify its place. “The education of Azerbaijanism -“Azerbaijanism” does not end only with everyone loving Azerbaijan at a high level, bowing to its blessings, protecting it from dangers, raising its honor and such patriotic indicators. There are deep spiritual layers under this concept” [Garalov Z.I., Baku, 2008]. For this purpose, its essence,

principles, methodological, philosophical and psychological foundations, and ways of instilling it in schoolchildren should be thoroughly investigated and studied. In order to preserve, develop, and perpetuate the independence of Azerbaijan, the unity of multinational peoples, and the integrity of spirituality, the idea and education of Azerbaijanism should be further deepened, always kept relevant, and passed on from generation to generation. “When we talk about the education of attitudes towards those in leadership positions, we mean factors such as obeying the leader, respecting him, not lying about him, not interfering in his affairs, etc.” [Garalov Z.I., Baku, 2003]. Leader-subordinate relations should always be based on mutual respect, esteem and sincerity. The professor writes that the culture of communication is an important human quality that includes the ability to establish warm, fully understandable and sincere communication in all environments in which a person is, in the relationships he establishes. The formation of interpersonal relationships should begin in kindergarten and be developed continuously at all levels of education. That is why the culture of communication is considered one of the main goals and functions of education.