You Get What You Give

Respect for others should be a prerequisite to being a human being in society. As a teacher, I seem to get disrespected all the time but I still try to give my students respect no matter how they treat me. When a person gives a little respect, he or she should gain a little in return. In the movie Lean on Me, much like in my career, the school is faced with undoing the damage of treating students poorly and learns that a little bit of respect can go a long way.

Not treating students poorly is exactly what that principal of East Side High did to change the climate of the school. Mr. Clarke walked into a challenge - drug dealers running rampant, kids skipping class and smoking in school, graffiti and gang signs plastered on the walls, and failing students who couldn't pass a basic skills test. The problem seemed to be that the bad kids were bringing everybody down and no student was being respected because of that stigma. Clarke said it right when he walked into his first staff meeting and stated, "If you treat them like animals, that's how they'll behave." Because there were cages and gates around certain places of the school, the students didn't care how they treated others. Once the cages were removed, the drug dealers kicked out, and kids were given the respect they deserved, the school began to turn around. With a little bit of discipline and guidance, the kids were even able to raise their scores high enough to pass the basic skills test. The students had pride in the school, respect for their authority and respect for their peers - something that I think should just be natural in a human being.

Unfortunately what I see as a natural human quality isn't always the case - in the movie and in my teaching career. Since I so strongly believe in treating others the way I would want to be treated, I try to give my students a bit of respect. To me that means allowing them to use the restroom when they claim they have to go, giving them choices on assignments, and allowing them to have a few conversations with each other throughout class. I'll even wait to start class for a bit so that I don't interrupt them. I do that, though, believing that if I give them a little bit of respect to say what they want that when the time comes for me to say what I want to say, they'll listen. It doesn't always work that way, but treating my students with respect and the way I would want to be treated will continue to be a rule I live by.

If only everybody would live by the rule of respect, there would be fewer problems in the world. Just like Mr. Clarke said, if a person is treated poorly, they'll act poorly. I like to turn that statement around and treat people well hoping that they will treat me well in return. Regardless, the students at East Side High learned a valuable lesson in respect and I hope my students do, too.