Defining Disrespect
Disrespect appears to be on the rise—particularly among younger students. It’s important, however, to determine if the disrespect is intentional or a misunderstanding of the definition.
Sadly, as surprising as it may seem, due to poor home and neighborhood influences many students just don’t know any better. And enforcing consequences for behavior your students don’t understand to be wrong will jeopardize your relationship with them.
It will cause friction, distrust, and resentment and increase rather than decrease the chances of it happening again.
The good news is that body language and tone of voice will always tell you whether to enforce a consequence immediately or pull the student aside for a brief lesson.
This underscores the importance of teaching this particular topic thoroughly in the beginning of the school year.
If you model the most likely scenarios—like those above, for example—and define for your students precisely where the line is, then instances of disrespect, intentional or not, will be few and far between.
