I can say what I want when I want to, I guess that’s freedom of speech. I guess we can post or text anything we want as well. Kids have been sold this. What kids need to understand is that they can say, post, and text whatever they want; WITH CONSEQUENCES. Just because we are thinking something doesn’t mean we have to say it. Our students need to evaluate their words and what damage those words can do to others. The tongue weighs about 2 ounces; yet it can control the events of our life. Healthy confrontations, debates, and constructive suggestion are good qualities of communication that we all should develop. Spewing, rumors, gossip, and hurtful statements can only create a school environment that is void of moral, trust, and integrity.
Teach your students that if they are going to say something that could prove hurtful to just wait 30 minutes, and evaluate if what they are going to say is truthful, kind, and necessary. Victims suffer because of verbal abuse and words can truly cut deep into a person’s heart and soul. This wait time will allow them to evaluate the cost of their words and avoid the guilt that they will experience from hurting another person. We are all just a compilation of what people have said to us and have done to us. Remember the heart of person can be broken in a second by caustic words.
Bench Notice
We are now in the communication era and the kids of this era are known as the IGeneration (I For Iphone). That wait time that I just spoke is more critical than ever now. The impulse is too great and kids will text things that they wouldn’t normally say face to face. Society’s Morality Can’t Keep Up With Technology, and it’s that technology that the IGeneration really knows how to use to spread rumors, gossip, and often photos that can damage a person’s reputation for a lifetime. There almost needs to be a course on Iphone etiquette. Maybe there is and if there is it needs to be required starting in the 3rd. grade.