Seemingly all the students are listening intently as the English teacher gives instructions on the work for the day. The appearance of innocence is adamant, but it is a lie. From one side of the room, a purple hook from a broken pen sails across the sky and barely misses hitting the teacher in the face. Silence grips the room as the teacher searches for the source of the pen hook, but when the culprit remains undiscovered, all attention turns back to normal. But a group of girls laughs quietly amongst themselves at their immature joke.

We at the Stampede have seen such displays of disrespect among our student body, and we loathe it. We have seen whispering behind teachers’ backs, talking over teachers when they are giving class instruction, refusing to comply with administators’ requests, and more.

Just like we know that it is the minority that litters and speeds through the nearby residential areas, we know that not everyone is showing this kind of disrespect. However, even if someone is not part of the problem, that should never stop him or her from being part of the solution.

Seriously, why do some of us act so childish? First graders can be expected to pull pranks and giggle as someone else suffers. The only difference between them and us is that we should know better.

If by some weird mistake disrespectful students don’t realize that their behavior is disruptive and offensive, the solution is simple: stop now and don’t do it again.

However, we doubt that students don’t know what they’re doing. We are nearly adults, after all.

Since intentional disrespect is most likely the problem we are dealing with, we know that the solution depends on the situation.

In one situation, students volunteer to help teachers by being their aides. They ask to take this position, but sometimes they do not respect the people they are serving.

Some of these aides work in the office and are expected to run passes to students. These passes are important and can change a student’s entire day, and even go as far as to affect their college preparation process. Yet, some of the aides don’t seem to understand this concept.

It is disrespectful for people to think so little of these passes as to refuse to take them to students.There are also instances where some students are actually trying to learn at school, and other students in the class make that very difficult. If someone is asking a question of the teacher, don’t interrupt.

It is distracting and annoying to break into someone’s thoughts mid-sentence. Often, students’ minds turn to follow the flow of the interruption, and then their own questions are forever unanswered because they forget them.

If CMR is to be a school that people enjoy attending, the students have to be people who others enjoy spending time with. Teachers adapt to deal with the students they have; henceforth, if students say they have a bad teacher, it is more often than not the students’ faults.

We can be better than this. All it takes is respect for the people who are striving to teach us and the people who are striving to learn. Be the kind of person who makes school a better place. Be the kind of person who makes the world a better place.