Respect

Friday, October 14, 2005

– By Mike Carey, Superintendent

Respect is the first of eight values that make up the Amador County Unified School District s Character Education Program. I use the term program only in the sense that we have eight values that were identified by a committee of staff and parents as important to the development of students into successful students. It is actually an invitation to all of us – school staff, parents, community members – to model and share the importance of certain values that are universally accepted as essential. In schools we can do this through lessons in literature and social studies, in playground behavior, through school and classroom rules. However, the best way to teach any desired value is to model it. There is a reason respect is the first one we would like to share. It, along with responsibility, may be the most important value our children can learn. Respect and responsibility are two learned traits found in every culture and society. However, it is also one of the hardest to teach. Why is that? First of all, there are some values that are the stuff of great stories, books and movies. We can all recall stories that highlight things like courage, compassion and honesty. However, there are not too many heroes who made their reputation on respect. I guess you could say that, in addition to being one of the most important values, it is one of the least glamorous. We don t always expect to be treated by others in stores, schools and the like with courage or compassion, but we do expect to be treated with a modicum of respect. And some of the most violent acts in our society are a direct result of a person treating another with disrespect. We ve found, nationally, that almost all school fights begin with one party s side feeling disrespected or dissed – a term used by older youth for several years – disrespect doesn t even need a full name, it is so notorious in the minds of youth. We don t tolerate disrespect well in our society but we don t give respect as often as we could, either. It would seem to be a simple request in our schools: Treat people with respect. Treat others as you would hope to be treated. We ve all heard that before, but is it something we live and model ourselves? It is not as automatic as one would hope and takes a lot of effort. One teaches respect by giving it, through consideration, tolerance, patience, courtesy and cooperation. Sutter Creek Elementary and Primary Schools have a simple set of rules: Take Care of Yourself, Take Care of Others, Take Care of this Place. Another way of looking at that is, respect yourself, respect others, respect others things. There would be very, very few conflicts if we could all live by those three guides. It s not the stuff of Hollywood.

– Mike Carey, Superintendent