Respect
· Treat others with respect
· Follow the Golden Rule
· Be tolerant of differences
· Use good manners, not bad
language
· Be considerate of the feelings
of others
· Don’t threaten, hit, or
hurt anyone
· Deal peacefully with anger,
insults, and disagreements
Working with
Children and Teens
Help children distinguish between respectful and
disrespectful statements and actions through everyday situations. Ask children whether each of the
following is an example of respect or disrespect. Discuss how those showing lack of respect
could act respectfully.
· A friend borrows one of your
toys and won’t return it.
· A classmate pushes you out of
line and takes your place.
· A classmate takes time to help
you understand a math problem.
· You tell a friend and he tells
it to a few other people.
· A friend says, “pardon
me” before going around you to hand up her coat in the closet.
· A classmate teases you about
your new haircut.
· You raise your hand to answer a
question, and everyone listens quietly while you talk.
· You’re a cursing loudly in
the lunchroom because your friends think it is funny.
· You are playing baseball and
accidentally throw the ball through a neighbors window.
· Someone at a party spills grape
juice on you and doesn’t apologize.
· Several people are pushing to
get on a crowded bus.
· Your father says he is expecting
an important phone call. Five
minutes later the phone rings.
It’s a friend of yours from school.
Practicing
Respect 1
People of good character are respectful of others. You show respect by recognizing and
honoring everyone’s right to be themselves, to make decisions, and to
have privacy and dignity.
· Be courteous and polite.
· Be kind and appreciative.
· Accept individual differences
and don’t insist that everyone be like you.
· Judge people on their merits.
Are you respectful? Spend some time talking to your
children about being respectful and how respect and disrespect is shown in
every day situations. Encourage them
to talk about one of the following:
· A friend borrows one of your
toys and won’t return it. Is
that friend being respectful? What
do you do?
· You tell a friend a secret and he
tells it to a few other people. Is
that friend being respectful?
· You’re at the monthly 4-H
meeting; raise your hand to make a comment and everyone listens quietly
while you talk. Are members of the
4-H club being respectful? Are you
respectful when others are talking?
Practicing
Respect 2
Aretha Franklin’s song
“R-E-S-P-E-C-T!” made the word famous but do we know what it
really means? Ethical people are
respectful of others, and demonstrate it by recognizing and honoring
everyone’s right to be themselves, to make decisions, and to have
privacy and dignity. Ethical people
deal with others using one of two principles:
1. Respectful
people give others the information they need to make wise decisions about
their lives.
2. Ethical
people accept individual difference without prejudice. Respect is given because you are a person
of good character.
Use these guidelines to
strengthen your character:
· Be
courteous and polite
· Be
kind and appreciate
· Accept
individual differences and don’t insist that everyone be like you
· Judge
people on their merits, not on race, religion, nationality, age, sex,
physical or mental condition. Or socio-economic status.
Exercise
Using good manners is a way to
show you respect yourself and others.
Send this month learning about table manners, dating etiquette and
business etiquette. Go to the
library, do a web search or ask an expert to help you in this exercise.
Ask a group of your friends
ways they want to be shown respect.
Then turn this list into a checklist on how you will treat others
your age for the next week. Then try
it for a second week.
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4-H
Character Connections - Respect
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Aretha Franklin’s song
“R-E-S-P-E-C-T!” made the word famous, but do we know what it
really means? Ethical people are respectful
of others, and demonstrate it by recognizing and honoring
everyone’s right to be themselves, to make decisions, and to have
privacy and dignity. Respect
means:
·
Following the Golden Rule
·
Using good manners, not bad language
·
Practicing tolerance
·
Being considerate of the feelings of others
·
Not threatening, hitting or hurting anyone
·
Dealing peacefully with anger, insults and
disagreements
Infants,
Toddlers and Preschoolers
The foundation of respect begins in
infancy. The best way for you to
begin teaching your child respect is by modeling the behavior. How you show respect to other family
members and friends will influence the ways your child is respectful of
others. Even in infancy, your
child will benefit from experiencing kind words and actions.
Keep in mind that toddlers may find
that the easiest way to solve problems is with a hit or grab because they
are not skilled at using language.
Continue to let your toddler know what behavior you want to see.
As your toddler grows to be a preschooler, you will
want to have her show respect by using good manners. Praise and encourage your child when
she says please or thank you at the appropriate time.
Let’s
Pretend to Take Turns Activity
Taking turns in not a natural action, it must be
taught. Help your child learn to
take turns by having everyone in the family take turns playing with a
favorite toy or doing a favorite chore.
Talk about how important it is for everyone to get a turn.
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School-Age, Middle School and Teens
Respect is an essential foundation
for good relationships. Being
respectful means respecting others’ differences. This should begin at an early age by
learning about the differences of children at CYS and learning how they
are unique and special. You should
encourage the same respect as they grow older. Children and teens who know how they
are unique and special will be better prepared to handle an encounter
with someone who is not respectful of individual differences.
Praise her when she handles difficult
people or circumstances respectfully.
Likewise, immediately explain why other behaviors are
disrespectful.
As always, modeling respectful
behavior and treating your children with respect are important.
Respect
in Movies Activity
Watch a current movie with your
teen. Agree before the movie
starts that everyone will watch the movie particularly watching for both
respectful and disrespectful behavior.
When the movie is over, compare your results. Do you agree with your teen’s
assessments? If not, take time to
discuss your differences considering everyone’s point of view.
Adapted from materials
written for US Army Child and Youth Services and USDA Cooperative State
Research, Education, and Extension Service.
CHARACTER
COUNTS! and the Six Pillars of Character are service marks of the
CHARACTER COUNTS! Coalition, a project of the Josephson Institute of
Ethics. www.charactercounts.org
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