Respect is one of the most important values in our lives. It plays a big role in everyone’s lives and it is necessary not only to be good with others, but also with ourselves. Respect is commonly thought to be appreciation or value towards someone or something. In our opinion, that vision of respect is real and valid, but it doesn’t explain what respect with complete accuracy.
Respect is the base of the society we live in, on a daily basis we simply look at respect like treating well or kindly other people everywhere we go, but this value has a lot of different aspects, besides that one.
Respect can be found in things as simple as smiling at someone who is passing by, but at the same time it can be so substantial that the gesture or action needs an award. Can you imagine someone getting somewhere in life without respecting anyone? Respect is needed in every relationship that you create with any living thing for the relationship to be successful, whether the other part is an animal, a plant or a person. Of course, there is a different kind of respect that you should be giving for every situation and being, the respect that you give a child or an elder is different from the one you should give to a plant.
In addition to the above mentioned, we would like to emphasize on the importance of teaching respect from an early age. Why and how can we do it? Easy. Throughout our lifetime, we have always kept this phrase in mind “ Respect if you want to be respected” , a fact that is true and it is a great way for a kid to take into account this value. Also, teaching values such as kindness, humility, or respect at an early age builds a child's character. It forms the very core of their being and becomes a foundation of their moral beliefs.
Activities such as listening to others, displaying good manners at our homes by using “thank you” or “please” appropriately, are some examples of how we can teach respect to kids while they are still young.
If we put together all the information displayed in this essay we can conclude that respect as it is the mother of all values, will always be the core of our society and we as social beings will always depend on it for our interpersonal relationships to be healthy and productive, not only with others, but also with ourselves.
By Juan Sebastián Mengual S. and
María J. Reyes Muñoz, Step 9 Blue.
