THE THURSDAY STAR'S story about young people 'dissing' respect is sure to strike a chord with many. It is simply putting in print what many have been experiencing, as the 'disregard' of young people for good manners and behaviour is a frequent topic of conversation.
However, there is another side to the story, in that the respectful child is often overlooked. As a society we pay a lot of attention to children who give trouble, while the quiet ones are often dismissed.
Consider how many pro-grammes there are to 'rescue' boys who give trouble, then think of how many there are to encourage those who already show good manners. There are plenty of the former and very few, if any, of the latter. Being paid attention to is a natural part of a child's needs, so it is not a great leap in logic to realise that those who are well-behaved and ignored or taken for granted may just 'break out' for some attention.
We need to see the respectful youngsters around us and treat them well.
In addition, youngsters see the indisciplined getting ahead every day. The person who drives around a line of traffic and forces his/her way in at the top gets away with it. The person who shouts the loudest in a patty shop often gets served first. The security forces often act in a manner that is in total contrast to their expected levels of discipline and the political parties have no problems with their supporters breaking the laws of body protrusion when the campaigns are on.
We need to see the primary image before we see the reflection and try to correct it.
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