This is a big one for me. Respect. One of the most underrated and, ironically, disrespected elements of daily life, especially the daily life of a teenager (or any student for that matter). The other day in my Photography 1 class, my teacher was gone for one reason or another and a substitute was teaching our class.
We all know how this goes.
For the most part, the class was being calm and under control. We had an assignment to storyboard a series of photographs that were due the next week and most of us were sketching out our planned images. And of course, there was that one kid who felt like he needed to be a rebel. Why? Who knows?
He was sitting at his computer on the back row, but instead of working on his assignment he thought it would be a great idea to play Grand Theft Auto on his iPad with the volume all the way up. Classy, Right? Let's call the kid Diego (not his actual name). Diego and the substitute had already clashed previously over his eating food and drinking milk right next to his computer. Milk right next to an expensive computer and keyboard? Hmm. The sub took care of it, with obvious reluctance and disrespect exhibited by Diego. Now, Diego decides to get revenge.
Over the sound of gunfire and the acceleration of his imaginary cars, Diego is politely asked to put away his iPad. He simply ignores the sub. She asks again, "Diego, will you please put your iPad away? You're distracting the class." No response. At this point, the entire class sits in awkward silence, disturbed only by the one-sided discussion and Grand Theft Auto. I could not believe the blatant disrespect that this kid had the gall to demonstrate.
After a call to the office, Diego was escorted from class. What a great way to start first period with! Respect has always been something that my parents taught me to employ whenever dealing with someone who deserved mine. Substitutes definitely fit into this definition. There are few occupations that require that amount of patience and bravery.
We all need to develop the skill of looking at things from other's points of view. This is hard. Really hard. The respect you earn from respecting other people makes up for the difficulty tenfold.
That's why we should respect people. Because it's nice, and because it makes life a lot easier when people who are more powerful or more experienced than you respect you more.
We all know how this goes.
For the most part, the class was being calm and under control. We had an assignment to storyboard a series of photographs that were due the next week and most of us were sketching out our planned images. And of course, there was that one kid who felt like he needed to be a rebel. Why? Who knows?
He was sitting at his computer on the back row, but instead of working on his assignment he thought it would be a great idea to play Grand Theft Auto on his iPad with the volume all the way up. Classy, Right? Let's call the kid Diego (not his actual name). Diego and the substitute had already clashed previously over his eating food and drinking milk right next to his computer. Milk right next to an expensive computer and keyboard? Hmm. The sub took care of it, with obvious reluctance and disrespect exhibited by Diego. Now, Diego decides to get revenge.
Over the sound of gunfire and the acceleration of his imaginary cars, Diego is politely asked to put away his iPad. He simply ignores the sub. She asks again, "Diego, will you please put your iPad away? You're distracting the class." No response. At this point, the entire class sits in awkward silence, disturbed only by the one-sided discussion and Grand Theft Auto. I could not believe the blatant disrespect that this kid had the gall to demonstrate.
After a call to the office, Diego was escorted from class. What a great way to start first period with! Respect has always been something that my parents taught me to employ whenever dealing with someone who deserved mine. Substitutes definitely fit into this definition. There are few occupations that require that amount of patience and bravery.
We all need to develop the skill of looking at things from other's points of view. This is hard. Really hard. The respect you earn from respecting other people makes up for the difficulty tenfold.
That's why we should respect people. Because it's nice, and because it makes life a lot easier when people who are more powerful or more experienced than you respect you more.