how can the young people in society show more respect for their elders?

Question

There is so much to be desired in the days of our parents and grandparents, when the young respected and reverred the elders in the society;
just wondering, would bringing back respect improve the moral decadence in society? or perhaps reduce or curb crime? what are your thoughts?

Answer 1

First - respect starts at home. If kids don't respect there parents - then there not gonna respect anyone. I would always teach my kids to be respectful to everyone, not just adults. Today people tell me how well behaved and respectful my children are and it makes me proud of them.

Answer 2

I don't think that bringing back respect will reduce crime or "moral decadence" - they are BOTH merely symptoms of larger issues.

A lack of proper parenting, combined with a lax education system (do the words "no kid left behind" ring any bells?) - as well as the general "money is POWER" attitude that has corrupted society - are just the "big three" issues.

Kids who don't have a proper home life join gangs just so that they can get the feeling of "belonging" to something, and the value of a proper education is lost on a generation that is FAR more illiterate than any in recent history!

The inability to read and write - mixed with the Internet and text messaging - have reduced the English language down to a long string of gibberish! Seriously - when we were in school, we would be disciplined if we ever wrote something like "u ppl r goin 2 da show l8r? kk!"

Our only hope is for those that society HASN'T corrupted - or that these kids will one day realize what they've lost - and start teaching THEIR kids how to respect others. Otherwise, respect itself will short lived...

Answer 3

I think bringing back respect would curb some of the crime and in society and I wish it would hurry up. I loved calling adults by Mr. and Mrs. I still try to help seniors in the stores or with whatever. I enjoy senior citizens. If the younger people of today would stop and listen, those older folks have incredible stories to tell!

I also think that some of the attitudes come from movies and television. People in the television industry say violence/crime/etc. don't influence the way people act, but advertisers say commercials will affect actions. I'm pretty sure both can't be right.

Answer 4

In this day and age, there IS no respect for anything at all and I would not be able to begin to find any way that this could be changed, it is so bad. There was not only respect for your elders, there was respect for our law enforcement officers, there was respect for our flag and our country, there was respect of our own selves and there was respect for our language. It is all gone, just take a look at some of the TV programs on every day and listen to the terrible words said outright in front of everyone in the so-called 'music' of today, it is terrible.

Answer 5

I am 15 and I respect my elders, but I see what you are saying! A lot of my friends don't respect their elders! They only talk to them if there is no other way of avoiding it, which is sad, they don't realize that some of the best conversations can be had with people older than yourself! I think the reason they don't respect their elders is because their parents never taught them to.

Answer 6

If an older person is ignorant enough to write me off on face value just because I happen to be a young person, then they don't deserve my respect. I respect all people, but it's also a two-way street. Not all of one's elders are worthy of respect, just as many young people are unable to earn the respect of their elders. There are extremely rude people in both generations.

Answer 7

Parents raised their kids, and set the standard for that when I was growing up. Nowadays everyone but the parents are raising kids, and many parents are out chasing $$$$ trying to "keep up with the Jones' " so to speak. Priorities have gone awry. Absent parents are a huge part of why kids are like they are.
Corruption within government, police forces, churches, within the education system, has increased and kids are not as trusting towards adults, and with just cause. Making it harder to respect them.
I say adults need to set their priorities straight and determine what's more important... raising kids with your standard, and maybe living more modestly OR getting that new 2007 Escalade truck and that house on the hill, while someone else instills THEIR standards in your kids or lack of.
Of course kids will not act like us, we aren't raising them! And caregivers/overcrowded class rooms have to divide their attention onto way too many kids to get that personal time needed to develop the standards you suggest are lacking.
My children respect "respectful" authority, but I would have to have on my rose coloured glasses to think that ALL elders are worthy or respect, just because they are older. Respect is earned.
This forum is a perfect example or the PARENTS and ADULTS are children are supposed to look up to and respect... it is a telling testiment of why kids are less respectful of adults. Look to the parents...Just my thoughts...
Have a great one.

Answer 8

You never heard my mother talk about her parents and grandparents. Most were respected, but only one of the six got the revered treatment.

Reduction in crime depends on whether parents and g-parents are criminals. Read about the 8 year-old whose dad took him along on a robbery?

Answer 9

Part of the problem, unfortunately, is that many of these young offenders never learned basic manners. All too often, their parents never bothered to correct their kids' poor manners- and some parents themselves are ill-mannered. Respect is a two-way street. Children learn manners and respect best when their elders model them. Plus, a child who is respected will have a desire to respect others in return.

Answer 10

I cant tell my children how to raise theirs, but when I'm around a younger person, I demand they be polite. They're usually pretty receptive. It would be so nice to think that if we expected more from the younger generation, it would reduce crime. Who knows, we wont know until we try. I'll give it a try and you do the same and maybe we'll start a trend.