This is a paper I did for Philosophy. The goal of the paper was to explore one moral value that has shaped my life, explain why its moral, describe how it affects the world I live and work in, and tell what an area of my life is that I could improve in it.
Respect. One small word, but so very powerful! Growing up dirt poor in the depths of the deep south, respect was one of the most important moral values that my parents trained into me. Respect for all things, both living and non-living, but particularly for life. Plants, animals, and especially humans were to be treated with utmost respect! To wound an animal intentionally and without need was simply not acceptable! To address an adult without the prefix of Mr. or Ms. was not ok in our house. To speak nasty to a sibling, or heaven forbid one of our parents, was entirely unheard of. I'm sure we did all have our moments of disrespect, but they were quickly dealt with! My parents also taught us the importance of self-respect. They trained us to work hard, to be fair and honest, to believe in ourselves, and to not act in ways that would shame us. I believe that it was their training in respect and its importance that gave us each the strength and abilities we needed to become solid, confident adults.
Respect is defined in the Merriam Webster dictionary as: 1) A feeling of admiring someone or something that is good, valuable, important, etc. 2) A feeling or understanding that someone or something is important, serious, etc., and should be treated in an appropriate way. 3) A particular way of thinking about or looking at something. To me these definitions imply that respecting the world around us is simply recognizing that it is good and valuable. To respect another person is to understand that they are important. I believe respect to be a moral value because it affects how each individual person views and responds to those around them. When we properly respect ourselves and the people around us it is hard to engage in morally degrading activities because we are thinking seriously about how our actions affect both our own lives, and the lives of the people we are in contact with.
I believe that respect, especially a respect for other people, is a value that is seriously lacking in the world around us! My personal passion is the care that the elderly receive. It is my goal to be a geriatrics nurse, and the value of respect is absolutely critical for doing that job well! In my work as a nursing tech I've seen so much disrespect in nursing homes! So many of the nursing techs are disrespectful and even abusive to the elderly. A lot of the nurses are disrespectful to the nursing techs too and this only exacerbates the problem of bad elderly care. So many people don't respect themselves enough to care about the job they are doing. They don't care about the people they are helping enough to see them as real people rather than just another thing that's keeping them from going home. I have seen elderly people scared, angry, wounded and confused by treatment that, with a little respect and consideration, never would have happened. Its really a hard field because choosing consistently to be respectful and to do your job well brings ridicule and annoyance from the people around you. I've heard a lot of nursing techs say “If I do it right, I'll get made fun of.” And its a true statement. But if we respect ourselves enough to truly care about the job we're doing, the opinions of other people are not nearly as important to us. Another area in this field that could really be helped with more respect is the nurse to nursing tech relationships. The attitude of the nurses toward her techs can really make or break the care given on any particular shift. A nurse that is kind, considerate, and respectful toward the techs working under her can make their job so much easier and more fun and thereby help ensure that the patients are well cared for, at least on her watch.
In my own life I see a tendency to have a lack of respect for others when they disagree with something I value highly. I especially think of it with my closest friends and family. Its not uncommon for me, when discussing things with other people, to try to sway them to my opinions and view points rather than to honestly listen to what they have to say and hear their argument and let it change me if I need changing. I believe that if I can implement more respect for the opinions of others into my daily life, I could grow more as an individual, and probably my relationships would benefit from it
“The Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” adopted by the United Nations in 1948, states in article 29; “In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society.” Respecting ourselves, and each other, is something that plays out in both large and small ways. Obeying traffic laws, speaking kindly to the people who serve in what we consider more lowly positions than we, taking the time to do our work well... All are ways in which we can each look after the general welfare of our democratic society, and thereby fulfill our moral obligation to treat the world around us with respect.
