If you don’t respect others, chances are you don’t respect yourself

“I’m not concerned with your liking or disliking me… All I ask is that you respect me as a human being.” – Jackie Robinson

What would you say of a student who has utterly no respect for his teachers?

A student who follows his or her own rules, answers to no one and often uses offensive and many times inappropriate language when addressing the head of his or her class?

You might scratch your head wondering why so many children today seem to be entitled – unafraid of authority; disrespecting of anyone they don’t personally invite within their social circles.

But the answer is easier than you might think, though good luck ever hearing politicians, school boards or students themselves brand this group as the culprits.

I’m talking about parents.

As I’ve said countless times throughout this blog’s history, parents are their children’s first and most influential teachers. While they might not be learning academically at home, they’re certainly developing social skills, morals, manners and more under the roof their parents provide.

Growing up my sister and I always had rules and regulations in our house – nothing military in nature, but if you crossed that line you could certainly expect a punishment. But far too many children today seem to think they’re above all the rules and the people who enforce them. Armed with a smart phone and an enormous chip on their shoulder, they believe they are truly independent adults – to say their naïve would be an understatement.

It’s that afforded freedom which I believe has led to a population of young adults who don’t have respect for anyone – not their parents, not their teachers and I’d say with quiet certainty not even themselves.

Parenting is not easy, but name me one thing in life worth anything that is. Parents need to understand that children need guidance, and in the absence of this support they will become independent, disrespecting adults who face many up-hill battles when witnessing the realities this world has to offer.

Jeremy Aldana once said something that I wish every young person today would use as the screensaver on their cell phone, so they’d continually be reminded. “It’s not so much the journey that’s important, as is the way that we treat those we encounter and those around us, along the way.”