This will mark me as a fogy and a curmudgeon, but is anyone besides me dismayed by the disrespectfulness of today's young people? I was taught—properly—to respect adults. It would never have crossed my mind to talk back, raise my voice, or make a face at an adult. I did what I was told without questioning it.
Kids today make no distinction between other kids and adults. Teachers say they can't teach because their students have no respect for them. They are wild, unruly, undisciplined. When students are disciplined, their parents, more often than not, side with them rather than with their teachers. Is it any wonder that we can't find enough teachers? Who would willingly put up with such disrespectful (in many cases dangerous) conditions?
Ultimately, it comes down to parents. The broader culture may make disrespect for adults seem acceptable, even "cool" (think of Bart Simpson), but the parents must counter this message and insist on proper behavior, with appropriate punishment for misbehavior. There must be no tolerance for disrespect. Children should be taught to say "Yes, sir" and "Yes, m'am" to adults, whether acquaintances or strangers. These expressions are symbols of respect.
All of which brings me to this story from my neck of the woods. The other day, a group of women who call themselves Mothers Opposing Bush (MOB) gathered in a public park in Dallas. Many of them brought their children. One of the mothers brought a punching bag with an image of President Bush on it. Some of the children punched it. Here is an image from The Dallas Morning News showing a girl swatting the president.
The image and story generated a controversy which shows no signs of abating. Here is an editorial about it from yesterday's DMN:
Respecting Fundamentals: Punching bag stunt oversteps partisan bounds
America is in a stridently partisan mood right now, but the moment captured in this photo, taken at a Mothers Opposing Bush rally in Dallas on Sunday, is obnoxious. This toddler couldn't have understood what she was doing.
Time was in this country when all children were taught to respect America's institutions, including the presidency. It might sound corny today, in the post-Lewinsky era, but this is an elemental part of learning the meaning of citizenship in a democracy. As children, we acquire respect for the institutions of government, just as we learn to respect our parents, our teachers, our pastors and other authority figures.
We may find out later in life that these people have feet of clay, in which case we are entitled, and possibly obliged, to judge them harshly. But we should remember that no society, particularly a democratic one, can survive if its people begin with a fundamental distrust or disregard for its basic institutions.
Americans just received a salutary example of patriotism last week when Democrats who were fierce opponents of Reaganism paid homage to the former president in death. When Jimmy Carter passes away, we will see Republican leaders doing the same, if only out of respect to the office he held. That's important.
Whether you are a liberal or a conservative, a Kerry fan or a Bush backer, teach your children to respect the men and women who seek and hold public office. Let them acquire the habits of partisanship when they're old enough to understand politics. Let them acquire the habits of patriotism while they're still innocent.
Here are two letters from today's DMN:
Mothers Opposing Bush member responds
Re: "Respecting Fundamentals-Punching bag stunt oversteps partisan bounds," yesterday's Editorials.
I'm one of the Mothers Opposing Bush, and my daughter attended Sunday's event in Reverchon Park. While there, she made a new friend. She ate a red, white and blue cupcake. She bounced with the other kids in the Bounce House.
What she did not do-and all but two or three of the 30-plus kids who attended did not do-was play with the punching bag that one mother brought on her own initiative to the event.
Should the bag have been there? No. Were our children encouraged to punch it? No, as your own reporter can attest.
I'm dismayed by the photo you've published twice. It is grossly unrepresentative of the spirit of the play date that we attended.
You use the word "obnoxious" in your editorial, and decried strident partisanship. I couldn't agree more. Why? Because, as of yesterday morning, I'd received more than 250 hate calls. They used the "f" word, death threats, threatened visits to my home-and one threatened my child.
I joined the Mothers Opposing Bush because I want to protect my daughter from a future defined by an administration that has waged war and hampered health care and environmental concerns. I'm a sadder, wiser Mother Opposing Bush today-and, thanks to death threats, more committed than ever.
Melody A. Townsel, Dallas
I had to catch my breath before writing
Re: "Dallas moms raising voices to defeat Bush-Group mixes play date with rally," Monday news story.
I am trying to catch my breath and am waiting for my heart to slow before responding to the article and corresponding photograph about Mothers Opposing Bush. But then again, maybe I should write while I am out of breath and my heart is racing.
How appalling to see children being allowed or encouraged to punch the president of the United States of America while condemning his stance on gun control. I was disgusted at the lack of dignity President Clinton brought to the White House for many reasons, but would never have allowed my children to show that kind of disrespect for the office of the president.
Weren't these parents supposedly upset about issues of violence? And what about gun control? Many more children die each year due to abortion than do as a result of gunshot wounds.
Melinda Grandell, Carrollton
Any thoughts? I'll post the best letters on this blog.