Respect
Neil Mufson, Head of School
If you’ve seen the brilliant, glowing bulletin board just inside our front door, you know for sure that this month’s Primary Day value is RESPECT. The board makes this keystone practice very concrete by noting some simple ways our young friends can RADIATE RESPECT:
- Follow Beako’s Golden Rule.
- Think before you act.
- Include everyone.
- Treat others with respect.
- Be considerate.
- Listen carefully.
- Be kind.
- Think before you speak.
- Apologize when needed.
- Use polite manners.
This month’s focus on such an important practice reminded me of a small volume I came across a number of years ago called Say Please, Say Thank You: The Respect We Owe One Another. Written by Donald McCullough, a professor of theology, the book focuses entirely on the concept of respect. The author’s central assumption is that “people deserve to be treated with respect, not because they have earned it, not because they are always kind or easy to get along with, but because they are part of something bigger than themselves… they [are part] of humanity.”
McCullough maintains that if we “Treat one another with a lack of respect, that lack of respect will spread, not only back to you but toward others. Treat one another with the dignity befitting human beings, and that dignity will in turn multiply. Attitudes and actions are as infectious as a mean virus.”
McCullough asserts that by observing simple courtesies, each of us can help turn the course of our society’s rampant incivility. This suggests a natural place to begin with our children. Taking the time to emphasize seemingly small expressions of thoughtfulness – for instance, consistently saying “please” and “thank you” – “can have a big role in creating a more humane humanity.” By teaching our children to make “everyday” courtesies more “everyday,” we teach them to respect others, which strengthens their connection to others and every community of which they are a part. After all, as McCullough writes, “Our lives are built one small brick at a time, ordinary day by ordinary day. With each little expression of thoughtfulness we help create something of immense significance… a manner that acknowledges the worth of human beings.”
The suggestions on our front bulletin board can indeed radiate outward. A more connected, humane, and respectful world can start right here!