Respecting one another

Liberty Lodge Young Leaders Project 2006 – part 4

What is “respect”? Everyone would say that respect is such an important value in our society, but it does not seem that all the people agree on what the word exactly means and how we should practise it in life. We show respect to a person because he/she has something special for us? Only “special” persons should deserve respect? No. All humans need to feel respected – of course children too.{{more}}

In real life we witness so many conflicts and arguments and many of them are in fact caused by the lack of respect for each other. We are living in Liberty Lodge Boys’ Training Centre in Green Hill, separated from our parents for various reasons. Some people often say that we are “less fortunate children” and even consider us as “rude and troublesome boys.” This view is so unfair and disrespectful. How can we feel worthy of respect in the face of such prejudice? The truth is that children first need to be treated with respect by adults to grow to be respectful enough to others. Thankfully, at Liberty Lodge we are given much care, affection and respect from adults to grow to be respectful enough to others. Thankfully, in Liberty Lodge we are given much care, affection and respect as children from House Masters, other staff members, and persons and groups who visit us. They make us feel worthy and also encourage us to learn how to practise respect to one another. This will surely lead to fewer conflicts and other problems, making our place a more peaceful and pleasant one to live in together.

Another beautiful aspect of respect is that there is no need to learn special skills to practise it. All you need to keep in mind is how you want to be treated by others and treat others that way. So why don’t you start it from today?

Roston Delpesche