Reporter: Caley Bedore
What’s happened to good old-fashioned respect? Somewhere along the way this value has been bashed, beaten and left to be forgotten.
Ask your grandparents and they will likely say, “It’s all that rap music you kids listen to!” or, “When I was young, there was nothing a good whoopin’ wouldn’t fix!”
But what has caused this blatant disregard for other people?
The other weekend people were partying at my house and someone stole my roommate’s laptop. How gutless are people these days?
If someone is nice enough to invite you into their house and you steal something to make a quick buck, what is wrong with you? I can’t stand that people would take something without thinking about the financial impact they are having and that they might be jeopardizing someone’s academic year.
Maybe people don’t really think about the consequences of their actions. I am sure they think about how it can affect them, but not about how what they do affects other people.
I come from a small town. I know everyone, wave to people when I pass them on the streets and don’t lock my front door. Growing up in a town like this has definitely shaped my views on this issue.
So perhaps it is my naïve and trusting ways but I just don’t understand the nerve of some people. At risk of sounding cliché, where I come from we just don’t do that.
Another partying example. Someone attempted to flush rolls of toilet paper down the toilet in the unit above me, obviously causing flooding. Also, as any student would agree, toilet paper is a hot commodity not to be messed with.
So, why? Why would someone do this? Call it drunken stupidity, but frankly I think it’s a case of lack of respect.
It seems the lack of respect in teenagers is something that is much more prevalent these days than ever before.
Now, maybe my parents would beg to differ that not much has changed at all, that as a teen I was just as difficult as teens today and I have some sort of skewed view of my well-behaved youth.
However, I believe it has changed. Lack of respect towards parents, other people, teachers, even friends is much more prevalent and severe than it has been in the past.
Although I may not have been the perfect angel as a teen, I like to think that I was still respectful and I truly believe respect is a lost value.
Blame it on what you will but the no-respect movement is gaining ground. Maybe, due to my small-town, trusting upbringing I am just being exposed to it more now that I am living in the city of Oshawa.
Whatever the case, pay it forward people and show a bit of class and respect.
