Respect Shown is Respect Taught

As I spoke to many students during the month of April as part of the National Teach the Children to Save initiative, I witnessed several attempts by faculty and staff to encourage the students to show respect.  One school’s administrator simply “clapped” and asked for a clap response from the elementary school students when she felt they were getting too loud.  This worked so well, I wondered if I could try this with my grandchildren.

The second school was quite different, mainly due to a different age group.  I noticed a teacher carrying hats.  When I questioned the reason for the hats, she stated the school had a policy of “no hats” allowed in the building and when two students continued to disrespect the rule, she confiscated the hats with the intent to later allow them to retrieve the hats from her room at the end of school.

While both of these techniques obviously were means of teaching students respect, I couldn’t help but wonder how these students might act when no clapping is present or when no one tells them to take off their hat.

The answer was then affirmed to me when I received a picture from our recent Women in the Workforce Luncheon of myself and a dear sweet friend.  Looking at this picture I was thankful that someone took the time to show me how to be respectful. This picture was not rehearsed as I didn’t even know it was being taken.  I was simply doing what came natural.

Therefore, I am convinced that many students will instinctively hear a clap when someone begins to speak, some will envision their hat being removed as they walk into a building and some will even hear their mother’s voice saying, “remember to bow your head and close your eyes when someone is praying”.