RESPECT
YOU’VE GOT TO GIVE IT TO GET IT
By Kate Daniels
Let’s just use our imagination for a
moment…
Let’s imagine we live in a world
where every single person is the
same – everything about them is the
same – the way they look, talk, think.
It’s a crazy idea really, isn’t it? Just
imagine walking round and just
seeing lots of ‘yous’! There wouldn’t
really be any point in talking because
you’d know what the other ‘you’ was
going to say. There would only be
one type of job because all the ‘yous’
would have the same interests and
skills. Wow, the more I think about it
the weirder that would be!
So why on earth am I talking about
this when this article is all about
respect? I’m sure you clever lot can
work it out – I’m talking about this
because respect for others is all
about appreciating our differences.
WONDERFUL WORLD
We live in a wonderful world, full of
such a huge variety of things – from
microbes 1 smaller than the eye can
see, to huge planets that spin around
in a space so big we don’t know if
there’s even an end.
We humans are pretty amazing too.
Somehow or other all of us are
different. That’s a total world
population of 7.4 billion people! 2
There is no one else exactly like you
in the whole world – no one!
Now, in a perfect world, every single
one of us would value and cherish
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our differences; but sadly, very sadly,
this is not the case. In fact, in some
ways, hate seems to be on the rise. In
the UK, for example, after the EU
Referendum, 3 there were 6,193 hate
crimes reported to police in the week
before and the three weeks following
‘Brexit’ 4 – and it still remains high.
This hate crime is not just limited to
the UK: in the last few years, the
world has seen a global rise. In the
US for example, hate crimes against
Muslims have shot up 67 per cent. 5
BUT WHAT EXACTLY IS A
HATE CRIME?
Basically, a hate crime is committed
because of hatred of someone’s
differences – so it could be because a
person is intolerant of someone
else’s race, religion, or who they
choose to love, for example.
I am a very lucky lady. My work takes
me to lots of schools and colleges
and I get to meet and work with
many wonderful young people.
When I do my ‘Respect’ sessions they
all find this hatred really, really sad.
They ask me, ‘why can’t people just
accept each other for who they are?’
This is hard to answer and I’m not
sure I know myself, though I suspect
there are many reasons.
I don’t think modern technology
helps – it seems to be making us
more self-obsessed 6 and selfish. My
friend has an interesting point. He
says that the whole world seems to
be shouting to be heard – people are
sharing their lives and thoughts
using the internet . . . everyone
seems to have something to ‘share’,
but is anyone actually, truly listening?
What I do believe is that things can
change if enough people decide to
change it. Surely, rather than dwell
on the problem it is better to find
solutions, don’t you agree?
‘Ok,’ I hear you shout – ‘what is the
solution?’ Well, I believe we need to
turn this world into one where
people listen to and respect each
other.
‘But how do we do that?’ I hear you
shout again! Well, in order to respect
other people you have to start by
respecting yourself, so let’s begin
there.
SELF-RESPECT
Self-respect is all about believing
that you are a decent person and
worthy of being treated well. It isn’t
about saying to everyone ‘Look at
me . . . I’m the best!’ That’s never a
pleasant thing, but it is about
recognising your qualities.
If you have good self-respect it’s
easier to respect others. Remember
the saying ‘treat others as you would
like to be treated’? I think that’s
respect in a nutshell. Of course
people will think, do and believe
different things to you, but by having