I have to admit, although it is not something I wanted to say, I am entering a stage of writer's block. I am running out of material to blog on, and this is weird for me because I never run out of stuff to say. This can be a good thing, or bad, considering your point of view.So, as I sat at Speech Practice one night and an interesting topic was brought up: Do children (today's youth) respect their elders?
Who does not remember hearing their parents say, "Respect your elders" every time we would get into a little spat with someone. Heck, we were kids. We did not know any better. But, growth and maturity come with age, and now, looking back, we did have plenty of respect for our elders if you take a look at today's youth.
What is respect? According to dictionary.com, there are 16 definitions for the word RESPECT. Here are three I find important:
to hold in esteem or honor
to show regard or consideration for
to refrain from intruding upon or interfering with
to show regard or consideration for
to refrain from intruding upon or interfering with
I do my observation hours out at BCN, and as I sat there one day, a student walked in crying out, "Hey douche-bag." I looked and saw that he was referencing the teacher. I was appalled! I knew if I ever called one of my teachers a douche-bag, my mouth would more than likely be tapped up tight. The teacher was very relaxed and just spoke to him back, but I still couldn't believe that I had heard that come out of his mouth in reference to a person in a position of authority.
Another personal situation I have had with this came on Saturday, April 4, during my regional tournament. My head coach asked me to give the pep talk to my kids, and so I walked in with smiles and excitement. I tried to share my enthusiasm with the kids, but most would not stop talking for me to get a word in. I told one student she had to be quiet because I was older and it was my turn to talk. She mouthed back at me, and then a junior girl stepped up, "He's not just older, he's our coach. Respect him enough to let him talk!"
I do not blame the kids though. I believe (and please, no one take this offensively) that parents are becoming younger and younger, and therefore, kids are being raised in different households than we were brought up in. Drugs, drinking, and sex are all things that are moving down in the schools. I was alarmed when I heard that a seventh grade girl at my high school was pregnant. Honestly, I didn't even know that was possible.
It comes down to what parents do an say. Since parents are still in their late teens-early twenties when they are having kids, they are still living their lives, so children are raising themselves. It is a sad notion when you walk into a second grade room and hear the F-word come out of the children’s' mouths.
Another personal situation I have had with this came on Saturday, April 4, during my regional tournament. My head coach asked me to give the pep talk to my kids, and so I walked in with smiles and excitement. I tried to share my enthusiasm with the kids, but most would not stop talking for me to get a word in. I told one student she had to be quiet because I was older and it was my turn to talk. She mouthed back at me, and then a junior girl stepped up, "He's not just older, he's our coach. Respect him enough to let him talk!"
I do not blame the kids though. I believe (and please, no one take this offensively) that parents are becoming younger and younger, and therefore, kids are being raised in different households than we were brought up in. Drugs, drinking, and sex are all things that are moving down in the schools. I was alarmed when I heard that a seventh grade girl at my high school was pregnant. Honestly, I didn't even know that was possible.
It comes down to what parents do an say. Since parents are still in their late teens-early twenties when they are having kids, they are still living their lives, so children are raising themselves. It is a sad notion when you walk into a second grade room and hear the F-word come out of the children’s' mouths.
"R-E-S-P-E-C-T...find out what it means to me." It is funny to say this, but it means less and less as our generations continue. It is time to teach children how to have respect once again.
I leave you with this quotation from James Baldwin:
"Children have never been very good at
listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate
them."
You had a really interesting blog this week and I think you bring up a few really good points. It is crazy how kids are acting. When I was younger, I was terrified of older kids and I always respected my elders...ALWAYS. I agree, I think it has to do a lot with your upbringing and the maturity, not necessarily the age, of the child's parents. It is shocking though how young many parents are these days, typically by "accident". It is sad for these potential kids to be parented by kids themselves who are obviously not ready to raise a family.
ReplyDeleteKyle,
ReplyDeleteI understand your writer’s block situation. I had mine a few weeks back and it is definitely frustrating! I have to say my friends and I have talked about your topic on numerous occasions. Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t remember being that rude when I was that small. It seems to me that children in this generation don’t respect their elders like they should. I don’t know if that’s due to the media, their parents, other reasons, or a mixture of all three. Whatever it is I know that when/if (I sure hope so anyway) I have children my kids will grow up knowing their place in the world and what is and is not appropriate to say.
As an elder, BRAVO to you Kyle, for sticking up for me – and now you. Did you ever think you’d consider yourself an “elder”?
ReplyDeleteRecognizing youth downfalls and where they come from is what our society should be doing. Next is working to correct this concern. You have created a generalization in some ways. I know kids who come from “well to do”, successful parents and they are not completely different for other reasons – too much getting and not enough working for what they get.