... kids.
seriously, ask a kid to explain respect and then give you an example of how they show it. if they don't succeed, tell their parents to teach them. it is NOT the job of a teacher to teach basic life skills such as courtesy, good behaviour and respect (self as well as towards others). a kid should learn about that as soon as they can crawl. teachers are there to show kids where to apply these skills in different settings (in class, at assemblies, etc...).
if you disagree, please post in my comments any suggestions on how to successfully get disrespectful, self-centred 8 year olds how to respect themselves and their friends.
this morning, i had to try and run the dance club of 40+ kids. one kid wouldn't stop talking over me and the other sat in a corner and pouted because she "couldn't understand". the talkative kid decided that learning the dance routine without talking was more fun than sitting on the bench. the pouty kid decided that despite me offering to help her, she would rather give up dance club. fine by me... i had a lesson to teach.
later, the pouty kid didn't like where her teacher placed her in the church pews. she began to pout again. church went on irregardless.
after church, the pouty kid decided to make one of her classmates feel unwanted by acting disgusted as her classmate approached her. once the classmate got fuming mad, the pouty kid laughed at her. i had to step in at this point. i told the kid that she should really think about how she makes others feel and how it could hurt. she said "i don't care". this is the attitude she gave me the rest of the morning. it was a loooooong morning and a lot more happened with just this pouty kid, to the point where i had to physically bring her to the principal's office. if you find yourself one step away from giving an 8 year old girl a full nelson, it's not a good situation.
so for any parents out there, get to teaching that respect. it won't teach itself, that's for sure.
