Respect for Authority

I never thought myself the type to say things like, “Kids these days don’t respect their elders.”

If you use that phrase or the word elder more than once a week, you’ve probably officially moved out of the young category. But whether you say it or not, I think it all the time being a teacher. The only difference I’d make is that it’s not a new phenomenon. When we’re young we feel invincible and live in ways that exhibit a hero like persona. There’s an abundance of complacency (laziness), territorial tendencies (jealousy/envy) and rebellion (cry for independence). I work with kids everyday but more importantly I was the one of the kids I see everyday.

No nostalgia on this line. In 1993 there were class comedians in my high school humiliating teachers to their faces. There was the sale of marijuana on campus. There were fights and on occasion gang warfare not too far from campus at a Friday night house party. Some of these same symptoms were visible in my junior high 4 years prior. It seems that the further back I go to find the era of decency and respect in my own lifetime, the more futile it becomes. I’ll stop at 1975 out of respect for those who graced the planet before me. They can blog about those years.

At times I’ve been appalled, as if I have a right to be, concerning our society’s Learned Disrespect. But seriously, there’s no time for that. I’m a nobody. What I am resolving, however, is to reteach what I know is healthy which is to develop a fundamentally ethical framework in young people. A student told me yesterday that she didn’t understand all the big deal about Red Ribbon Week because she smokes and maintains a 4.0 at age 14/15. I appreciated her honesty but I told her and her classmates that bad decisions don’t show a freedom from authority but rather the fetters of a true slave.

I had it all wrong with my condescension of young and old who have chosen a reckless lifestyle. Our society is and likely has always been ripe with rebellion. But young people don’t know they have a choice, that they can break familial cycles or that short term power plays can destroy long term significance. Today would be a good day to move beyond proclaiming a message that you need only to appear respectful of yourself, others and those by which you are led or lead. Today should be the day we really model such respect so that it becomes contagious as it was back whenever it was.