Aretha Franklin must have been a mom. 

♥”What you want Baby, I got.

What you need, do you know I got it?

All I’m askin’

Is for a little respect when you come home!” ♥

How do you teach kids to show respect?

I was invited in to a large after school program to work with the staff. Their biggest frustration was “The kids don’t give us any respect!” Having hung around for an hour just watching the interactions, I totally agreed. So I asked, “What have you done to teach them to show respect?” Their answer?

Well, nothing. The adults had some totally understandable reasons for that answer:

“We shouldn’t have to teach them, their parents should.”  “Kids should know how to be respectful to adults by watching what happens around them.” “I don’t remember anyone teaching me how to be respectful, we just were!”

That would all be great. But it doesn’t ring true in my observations of the world, and it wasn’t working for this staff. So they needed a plan.

There are age-appropriate activities that build respect in kids and teens.

The staff picked one activity a week from my mini-book Teach Respect, and a few weeks later said that the culture was making an obvious shift. Kids were looking beyond themselves, treating the staff and each other better. Treating themselves better too!

♥”What you want Baby, I got. What you need, do you know I got it?♥

Be creative when you teach kids respect!