When did it become OK for 13 year-old boys to have absolutely no respect for their elders, teachers, or anything??? I have a few boys in my class who are so far from well-behaved it's sickening. When I ask them to be quite multiple times they actually have the cajones to turn to me and motion like, "Just a second, I'm almost done telling my friend about my favorite band..." so I have to say things like, "No, that is not how it works in my classroom. Blah blah blah." A few of them even made fun of my accent (in Spanish) today.
Is it because I speak another language so they don't really see me as a person? Is it because they have not yet learned what respect is and why it is important? Do they do it purely for attention? Are their parents completely incompetent at raising them? Is it because they are spoiled? Is it because they are Mexican? Will they grow up in the next few years into nice young boys, who care about their mothers and getting good grades and getting into university? Or will they become the ones that whistle at me on the street or the ones that waste my time in rehearsal?
Some days respect strikes me as this abstract thing, the importance of which I can't quite articulate. Right now it is a very real, necessary, essential to being a human thing, the lack of which in these teenagers leaves me flabbergasted.
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First, I can't even describe how I feel reading this... lots of things I guess. I see it as sad, humorous, interesting, the list is longer but I'm going to stop. Anyway, I will give you my opinion on it.
Respect doesn't have to do with the language thing, it could be an excuse, but it is not the problem when you get down to it. Also, I know how frustrating it is (TRUST ME), but don't let it get to you because this lack of respect shows up everywhere in their lives, it is not reserved solely for you alone. I can't say how much they have learned about respect or it's importance, but I can see that it has not been demanded of them much if at all. I don't think they do it for attention, at that age I would guess that it has more to do with thinking they are the only and most important thing on this earth (I know that's an exaggeration, but it has truth to it). They are spoiled, but not necessarily the typical way. I don't think it has anything to do with them being Mexican. They could grow up to be anything, and I really mean that, Hitler or Ghandi and everything in between.
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