Respect

How do you get kids to be respectful? This is more venting than teaching help. I have had some experiences this week that are incredible when it comes to children and respect. The students that I took on a field trip today were lower elementary students. I had a student make fun of a physically handicapped person to his face while on the trip. I was so embarrassed for the poor man. He knew that the child was making fun of him and all of the other students were staring! I talked to the student about it and his only comment was if he were that man he would bang his head on the wall until he died. I said that that was really really sad! I asked him how the man felt and he said that he didn't know and didn't care! I could not believe my ears. I had to stop and think about what I would do if this were my child. I believe that if it were my child that I would have made them go to a hospital or facility that cares for people with disabilities and work with them and learn what it is like. This isn't the ONLY incident of the week.

The other incident involved a student from another classroom and the teacher. The teacher was introducing new vocabulary words to the class and while introducing the word "vast" a student pipes up and tells the teacher that she is vast. He meant that she was fat. It is just appalling that a kid would think of calling a teacher a name like that. What can we do to instill values in a child after they are in school? It seems that if they don't learn it at home that they won't learn it at school--no matter what I do. Both of these students are very bright kids. They should understand that this hurts people's feelings. Don't they? Why can't they? Why won't they?

What are we missing in society that makes them lack the respect? I don't understand. I would have never considered doing either of these things in school. Kids now will say whatever they want. Kindergarten students come in knowing what sex and everything else is. They have no problem telling their friends. Kids will say any cuss word and then act like you heard it wrong. It is really incredible! Any ideas how to make the kids understand respect?

Department of Natural Resources Website

This website is more for teachers looking for classroom resources than for parents, but parents might also find some information on this site useful.

http://dnr.state.il.us/education/

Is anyone reading this?

Just wondering if anyone was reading this. Please post and let me know!

Another Spelling Website

www.spellingcity.com

This website is a great way to practice selling words in a fun way. There are games and activities to make learning fun.