Tuesday, October 5, 2010

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

This morning I overheard one of our neighbors yelling at the bus driver for yelling at her kid on the bus. I could only hear the "conversation" from the parent's side, but she proceeded to cuss the bus driver out and invite them off the bus to fight. The bus driver wisely closed the door and drove away.

Whether or not the bus driver had yelled at the kids on the bus, yelling back at the bus driver didn't get anywhere. If you're trying to make sure your kids are respected, don't disrespect them by treating others poorly. There is a lot of irony that she was yelling at the bus driver for yelling at her kid. In fact, she disrespected all the kids on the bus (as well as the driver, of course) by responding to the driver with yelling and abusive language. We don't need to teach kids that the solution to a problem is to yell, call names and fight.

When we yell at others, we often show our own issues (if we take the time to look at ourselves). Getting upset over other's shortcomings reveals our impatience, disrespectfulness or anger issues. Of course, we all have our issues; none are perfect. But let's respect our kids in teaching them to handle issues properly (as well as dealing with our own issues), being respectful of others (as well as our children). Most cultures have some form of Jesus' Golden Rule: "Do unto others as you would have them do to you." Treat others the way you want to be treated--the way you want your children to be treated.

2 comments:

  1. Good Post. I would also think what kids consider yelling isn't always yelling. It's being athoritative.

    ReplyDelete
  2. A friend was at our house once, a few years ago, and her son hit Noah. She punished him by spanking him. I'm not sure she understood that hypocrisy -- hitting her child in an effort to teach him not to hit. Hmmm. We parents really need to get it in our heads that we teach best by the example we set.

    ReplyDelete