What is Respect?

What do students think respect is?

I asked students what they thought respect was and if they think they are getting respect in school. I asked six students three questions. The first question I asked was “What do you think respect is?”

The first student was Laura Ulloa and she said, “When you respect someone,they respect you.” The second student said, “Respect is when you have to respect an older person,and you can’t talk back to them.” The third student was Eylin Flores. She said, “Respect is important because people are going to treat you well.”

The second question is “Do you think you are being respected in school?” The first student said, “No, because sometimes we have a lot of confidence that causes us to lack respect.” The second student said, “Sometimes, because we are arguing, and they lose respect for me, and so do I.” The third student said, “No, all of the people here are respectful.” 

The third question was, “What can we do to show more respect in school?” The first student said, “Don’t offend anyone, and talk to them kindly” The second student’s answer was, “We can be quiet when someone says something. Think before you say something.” The third student said, “Don’t touch what isn’t yours, don’t bother your friends, and don’t be disrespectful towards your teachers.”

What do teachers think respect is?

I asked two teachers the same questions. The first question was, “What do they think respect is?” The first teacher said, “Treating people equally and being kind to everyone. Everyone deserves to be treated kindly. Even when you are in a bad mood or you’re upset about something, it’s not an excuse to be rude to people.” The second teacher was Mrs. Jackson, and she said, “The ability is the responsibility to see each person as an individual.”

The second question was, “Do you think you are being respected in school?” The first teacher said, “Sometimes yes and sometimes no. I feel like the pandemic has caused people to feel more stressed, angry, and sad. As a result, people don’t know how to cope with these feelings and they end up taking their anger out on other people. Sometimes students are disrespectful and they don’t realize it, but some students are disrespectful on purpose, too.” The second teacher said, “Yes, my colleagues, because they respect me and I respect them.” 

The third question is “What can we do to show more respect in school?” The first teacher said, “I think that we should try to be as kind as possible. By showing someone some kindness, it usually goes a long way.” The second teacher said, “Respect is earned, so one has to earn it.”

Last Thoughts

Another thing I want to talk about is that students and teachers and everyone else need to treat each other equally. Don’t treat someone else better or worse because in this world because we are all the same. If you are white, black, Hispanic, Asian, or another race, it doesn’t mean that you have more power. That just means where were you born or how you look. Everyone is a human and everyone is the same. I think we should respect everyone because we deserve it. Sometimes people think that someone is bad just because of how they look, but when you get to know, them it’s different. I thought a girl I met was selfish and stuck-up, but when I met her, she was nice and now we are really good friends.