Honesty and Respect - Shivani Rao

Honesty means having the courage to speak the truth. An honest person is always respectable and admirable in society. A person with honest behaviour is always appreciated by all. For one to build the character of honesty entirely depends on his/ her family values and ethics of his/ her surroundings. Being honest never means to bear the bad habit of others or bear ill-treated activities.

Honesty is built slowly and patiently first at home and then at school. Home and school are the best place for children to develop their attitudes. An honest person shows good behaviour, always follows rules and regulation, maintains discipline, speaks the truth and is always punctual. An honest person is trustworthy and loyal. Honesty involves the courage to stand against wrong. Wrong is wrong even if everyone is doing it.

You must have seen in the classroom during examinations that many students seem to cheat because of fear of failure in exams. Some students, being honest, inform their teachers about their friend's wrong actions without thinking that their relations with their friends can be jeopardized.

What is respect? Do we need to earn it or we get it by birth? Respect is something that is the result of your good actions. Respect must be shown to the people who impact our lives. One of the best ways of showing respect is by listening carefully to the person even if you do not agree with their points. Respect is a two-way street- Whatever you give, you will get back. It consists of trust, support, safety, cooperation and accountability.

Ways of showing respect

Respect for elders: When you listen and obey them 

Respect for the environment: when you take care of them.

Respect for your equipment: When you value your equipment.

Respect for other efforts: When you appreciate them

Respect for animals: When you feel their pain.

Self Respect: When you believe in yourself even when the world is against you.

Honesty and Respect are directly interlinked with each other. If you are an honest person, people will respect you. They will appreciate you for your honesty. If you are respectful in society, people will be honest with you.

The connection is not built for pleasing people. It happens when you are honest with someone and they respect you for what you are.

Now the question is how these values can be developed in our child? And the answer is 

-open discussion in classrooms. 

-Debates on topics related to honesty and respect.  

-Storytelling on topics by students.

-Solving case studies. 

-Asking them their real-life story when they had been honest and in return they got respect.

Youths are the future of any country so they should be given better opportunities to develop moral character so that they can lead the country in a better way. First and foremost priority is, to be honest with yourself and respect yourself then only you can spread these values.

Shivani Rao

The Fabindia School