RESPECT

What is respect?

• Respect means showing regard and appreciation for the worth of someone or something.
• It means honor and esteem.
• It includes respect for self, respect for the rights and dignity of all persons, and respect for the environment that sustains life.
• Respect keeps us from hurting what we ought to value.

Why is respect important?

• Much of the universal values and virtues that contribute to the good of the individual and society and affirm our human dignity are derived from the value of respect and the value of responsibility.
• We need respect to collaborate and to have a peaceful world.

Children with respect -

• Listen
• Keep unkind thoughts to themselves
• Speak kindly to teachers and others
• Play fairly and wait their turn
• Raise their hands before talking
• Say "please" and "thank you"
• Clean up after themselves
• Share

Proverbs and maxims

• Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for kindness. (Seneca)
• My religion is simple. My religion is kindness. (Dalai Lama)
• Kindness is the golden chain by which society is bound together. (Goethe)
• It is the weak who are cruel. Gentleness and kindness can only be expected from the strong. (Leo Rosten)

Other quotes on respect

• Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you. (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
• Without feelings of respect, what is there to distinguish men from beasts? (Confucius)
• I must respect the opinions of others even if I disagree with them. (Herbert H. Lehman)
• I can live for two months on a good compliment. (Mark Twain)

Heroes and heroines

• Abraham Lincoln - respected his enemies and modeled understanding, forgiveness, and kindness. He was committed to restoring the union and freeing the slaves.
• Golda Meir - served as Israel's prime minister and worked to secure peace agreements with the Arab nations.

Set goals for yourself

• Respect for yourself
• Respect for your family
• Respect for your teacher
• Respect for other people
• Respect for property
• Respect for rules
• Respect for differences
• Respect for the environment

Respect on the telephone

• Ask the person you are calling if it is a good time to talk
• Don't call friends or family during the hours around dinner time or too early or too late
• Keep background noise down
• Limit the amount of time you talk
• Take accurate phone messages
• Don't interrupt
• Say "please" and "thank you"

Put respect into action

• Practice the Golden Rule
• Practice Random Acts of Kindness
• Practice saying "please" and "thank you" and "excuse me"
• Make a point of not teasing and encourage your friends not to
• Be patient with yourself and others when a mistake is made
• Discuss with your parents what good manners are
• Practice good table manners
• Make an effort not to gossip
• Make an effort to not swear
• Be courteous toward everyone
• Learn how to properly introduce yourself
• Practice giving a firm handshake
• Remember to raise your hand when you want to speak in class

Community service ideas

• Entertain senior citizens at a retirement home
• Correspond with students from another country and learn about each other's culture
• Write thank you letters to community leaders
• Volunteer to help the disabled
• Volunteer to help with cleanup or gardening chores at a park or other public recreational area
• Share with another school the meaning of respect by exchanging art projects, writings, and other ideas. Try to exchange visits
• Honor Labor Day by showing respect for the working people in your community
• Make posters

"The Golden Rule"

• "Treat others as you wish to be treated yourself."
• The Golden Rule urges all people to treat one another with dignity and respect.

Remember

• Respect means using good manners; being courteous and polite, speaking to others in a kind voice; using polite body language.
• Respect means showing consideration toward other people (including your elders, parents, guardians, teachers, peers, siblings, other family members, employers, and people in authority).
• Respect means honoring other people's wants, needs, ideas, differences, beliefs, customs, and heritage.
• Respect means caring for other living things and the earth (animals, plants, the environment).
• Respect means obeying the rules, laws, and customs of your family, faith, community, and country.

Other activities

• Write a poem about respect. What does it mean to you? Or write a story about an incident where someone shows respect or disrespect. Perform it as a skit.
• Make a list of disrespectful words and phrases. Replace with compliments, congratulations, and encouragement.
• Learn about netiquette or proper behavior using the computer for communication.
• Learn about etiquette for different occasions such as meeting new people, giving a party, eating a meal, writing a thank you note, participating in sports.
• Research respect and courtesy in other cultures. Make a chart to compare simple courtesies.
• Brainstorm rules of respect for your family, classroom, club, etc.

BOOKLIST for Respect

For grades K-3

Children Just Like Me - Kindersley

Value of Respect: Abraham Lincoln - Johnson

The Wump World - Peet

Manners - Aliki

Martin Luther King Jr. - various biographies

Harriet Tubman - various biographies

Crow Boy - Yashima

Smoky Night - Bunting

The Mixed-up Chameleon - Carle

The Surprise Family - Reeser

The Biggest Bear - Ward

The Hundred Penny Box - Mathia

A Light in the Attic - Silverstein

Like Jake and Me - Jukes

Miss Rumphius - Cooney

Whoever You Are - Fox

Young Abe Lincoln - Harness

Abe Lincoln Goes to Washington - Harness

People - Spier

The Children's Book of Heroes - Bennett

Puppy Love - King-Smith

He Bear, She Bear - Berenstain

I Am Rosa Parks - Parks

Why Do You Love Me? - Schlessinger

The Butter Battle Book - Seuss

I Like Me - Carlson

Frederick's Fables - Lionni

The Story of Ferdinand - Leaf

Too Short Fred - Meddaugh

Berenstain Bears & Too Much Teasing - Berenstain

Frederick - Lionni

I Hate My Brother Harry - Dragonwagon

The Quarreling Book - Zolotow

Stellaluna - Cannon

Alexander and the Wind-up Mouse - Lionni

Are You My Mother - Eastman

Chester's Way - Henkes

Fish Is Fish - Lionni

Inch by Inch - Lionni

The Ugly Duckling - Anderson

The Big Orange Splot - Pinkwater

Rosie the Cool Cat - Wilkon

D.W.'s Guide to Perfect Manners - Brown

Herbie Jones and the Second Grade Slippers - Kline

Whoopi's Big Book of Manners - Goldberg

For Older Kids

Black Beauty - Sewell

The Black Stallion - Farley

The Book of Virtues - Bennett

Charlotte's Web - White

The Friendship - Taylor

It's Like This, Cat - Neville

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry - Taylor

Summer of the Swans - Byars

The Trumpet of the Swan - White

Annie and the Old One - Miles

Felicia the Critic - Conford

Ordinary Spendors - Knapp

Altogether, One at a Time - Konigsburg

The House of Wings - Byars

Sixth-Grade Sleepover - Bunting

The Twelfth of June - Gould

Racing the Sun - Pitts

Holes - Sachar

Under the Blood Red Sun - Salisbury

Sideways Stories from Wayside School - Sachar

A View from Saturday - Konigsburg

Fables - Lobel

Aesop's Fables - Aesop

Maniac Magee - Spinelli

A Little Book of Manners - Barnes

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