Wellbeing Officer

From the Student Wellbeing Officer

The Cambridge Dictionary defines “Respect” as:

• Politeness, honour and care shown towards someone or something that is considered important
• A feeling that something is right or important and you should not attempt to change it or harm it
• The feeling you show when you accept that different customs or cultures are different from your own and behave towards them in a way that would not cause offence

Respect is a positive feeling or action shown towards someone or something considered important or held in high esteem or regard.  It conveys a sense of admiration for good or valuable qualities.  And it is also the process of honouring someone by exhibiting care, concern, or consideration for their needs or feelings.

Students have been introduced to the concept of Respect being showing others they are important by what you say and do.  We have also discussed “Self-Respect” which the Cambridge Dictionary defines as “a feeling of respect for yourself that shows that you value yourself.”  When tackling the topic of Respect, the mindset tends to naturally drift towards “respecting your elders” and other forms of respect which involve other people.  On the less talked about flipside, learning to respect yourself is just as, if not more than, important.  It is much easier to respect others and treat them appropriately when you have a healthy respect for yourself.

With that in mind, one of the activities included with this article focuses primarily on Self Respect.  This checklist consists of seven statements, and students are encouraged to put a ✔ next to the statements that they believe are true about themselves, and a X next to the statements they think they need to work on.  This is a good activity to do together as a family as it assists in developing understanding of how we are all different in our perspectives and viewpoints, and foster conversation around how we can learn to support each other and understand each other.

The other activity included with this article is a grid consisting of 20 statements.  Students are asked to colour the statements which show respect in green, and colour the statements which show disrespect in red.  This is another good activity to do together as a family as it encourages discussion around how we treat each other as family as well as how we treat different people in general.

And finally, a bit of fun!  Have a look at your fingertips and focus on your fingerprints.  Did you know that there is NO ONE ELSE in the ENTIRE world - past, present or future - who has the same fingerprints as you?  This is a great way to reinforce and celebrate that we are all different, unique, and valuable.  Speaking of differences … a good game to play as a family to reinforce the value of being different and respecting others is the Differences Game.  One family member leaves the room and changes something about their appearance and the rest of the family have to guess what is different when they come back in.  This game has proved to be very popular with the students!

If you would like further activities to do at home and/or further information regarding the programs I run, please do not hesitate to contact me at traceym@suvic.org.au or at the school on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Tracey McGlashan

Student Wellbeing Officer