Respect is a two way street, if you want it you've got to give it

Bullying is a huge epidemic in today's society. We hear about children, young children, who commit suicide or turn to a dangerous lifestyle because their peers were bullying them. We feel sorry about them. But do we do anything about it? It's one thing for an insecure eight year old to bully his classmate. But we're not going to stop it if we don't model respect.

Here I am getting ready to finish my first college degree, and I feel like I'm back in elementary school. There's an "insecure eight year old" in all three of my on campus classes. She has picked me out of all the people in her classes to constantly put down. Here I am, I've lived in 3 different places. I've lived on my own. I've been in college six years. I've finally found the career that makes my heart jump for joy. I know where I want to go after May. I'm keeping my options open. She's four years younger than me. She thinks that up on the mountain is literally the only place to teach. During class discussions she talks about how things were done for her family or at her school instead of developmentally appropriate practices. She likes to brag about making D's in class. She asks irrelevant questions. She even corrects the teacher.

She has not earned my respect. Respect is a two way street. She does not show me respect whatsoever. Therefore, I will not show her respect. I'm glad this is my last semester. If she had been in my first semester classes I think she would have ruined the whole thing. So, whether you're 5 or 25, being bullied and looked down upon still hurts. We fight to end the age of bullies. We can't do that until we teach adults to model respect. The children in this girl's class will not accomplish much if she acts inferior to her students. If she as an adult, models to the children that she will teach that it's okay to act better than everyone else, she won't teach them anything at all.

Well, that's my heart these days. I feel two feet tall. I come home with no motivation. My first two semesters I got excited to go to class. This semester, it's just a dread to even think about it. It's going to be a long four months. Unlike her, I have dreams. Dreams that are bigger than here.