I had the misfortune to watch a little of a kids TV channel yesterday. While these actors and actresses are certainly talented it saddens me to see the message they're sending. The Americans have a great word (no doubt long out of use). Sass. As in "Don't sass yur parents"
Kids are cheeky to adults but what I find worse is that the adults are cheeky to children. What happened to respect? I've never totally gone along with the "respect your elders" thing because many elders don't deserve that respect. The Water Babies should be required reading for teachers and parents. Mrs Doasyouwouldbedoneby set the tone. So please don't sass your kids if you want them to respect you. We see it too often, the wise-cracking parent, putting the child down. We also see too many children rolling their eyes for laughter, picking on their siblings as if it's required by nature and being really rude.
As the mother of three children my rose coloured glasses broke years ago, of course our children were the exception, little angels (lol) but I'd like to think I never sassed them or put them down.
It doesn't stop with home and TV, we have radio DJ's who are snide and hurtful, choosing someone to mock endlessly. So Britney showed us her hoo-hah, let it go! George W, by no means my favourite man, joke's over.
Let's start addressing Nelson Mandela as Mr Mandella, not just by his last name as the TV news readers do. I love the way the British media always use the title of the person they're reporting on, despot or not.
Show respect.
Don't litter or set fire to our precious mountain.
We're all equal. I was rudely treated by a shop assistant last year, no respect, no courtesy, no thought that he may be in the wrong, which he was. I haven't been into the store since, I'm just not such a fanatic that I'll accept such nonsense.
A friend was complaining that his daughter was texting under the table during dinner. I said I would have taken her 'phone away, he said he couldn't really, she's in her twenties!
Discourteous.
We always have a good laugh at Two and a Half Men, one of my favourite comedies, BUT, it's not aimed at children and hopefully I'm mature enough to understand that most of the time that's just no way to behave, I don't think a 10 year old does.
So next time the boy next door breaks a chair over your husbands head, don't blame him, it's just the way it is.
No respect.
Oh sweet child of mine...
5 years ago
2 comments:
I could not agree more. I've always been a great believer in respect. I've always believed in setting boundaries too. I've never been one to call my doctor or the headmaster of the school that my children attended by their first names. Doing so blurs the boundaries between who they are and what it is you actually expect from them.
Relationships need to be defined or else they simply will not work.
But there is still quite a lot of respect out there.
Although told to call me Sandra, many of our younger staff call me Mrs Green or Mrs G.
The security guard calls me Mama. That is a form of respect!
I hope I show them respect as well!
I love this post - so true and clever as always. I hope I can instill this same idea in my child from an early age and of course I intend to return the favour ;0)
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