| Boy Learns Respect | | | | appearance when you come to Karate. I respect |
| Parents Stunned... Delighted! By Dion Riccardo | | | | that, and so do your Karate teachers." |
| This isn't too surprising in a 15 year old. Smart "Rock | | | | I began to help Tony see that certain types of dress |
| Solid" parents understand that kids must be taught | | | | were appropriate with his friends, in social |
| respect. | | | | settings...but were not appropriate around his family |
| Although Tony was disrespectful at home and at | | | | and in school. We discussed the value in taking pride |
| school, he was very polite and respectful in the | | | | in one's appearance as a way of earning respect. |
| Karate school. He loved the protocol and the | | | | 2. Language. |
| politeness of the Martial Arts. | | | | Tony had such a sullen, negative way of speaking |
| I said to him, "Tony, why do you like it here?" | | | | that people automatically interpreted it as disrespect. |
| He said, "I dunno...I guess because of all the teachers | | | | What's more, he seldom looked anybody in the eye |
| have done in Karate. I respect that." He added, "Plus, | | | | when he spoke. |
| everybody is nice to me." | | | | We began working on making eye contact with |
| "Tony, can you see how it works? You are | | | | people, and using a more enthusiastic voice tone. |
| respected here because you are respectful." | | | | The occasional "Yes, Sir!" and "Yes, Ma'am" when |
| "What do you mean?" | | | | talking with parents and teachers was one way that |
| "Tony, would you be disruptive or disrespectful here? | | | | we used to show them that Tony was making an |
| Would you be verbally disrespectful to your Martial | | | | effort to be respectful. |
| Art teachers?" | | | | 3. Obey "rules of the house." |
| "No way!" | | | | ...just like he was doing in the Karate school. |
| Tony wanted, more than anything else, to be | | | | Tony had never given any thought to the fact that |
| respected. | | | | he should be respecting the rules of his parent's |
| I began to show Tony how his disrespectful attitude | | | | home. And yet, when he came to his "karate home," |
| outside of the Martial Arts was hurting him. | | | | he always understood that certain rules of conduct |
| And how he really owed far more respect to his | | | | applied. |
| family and his school teachers than he did to his | | | | We discussed the importance of avoiding bad |
| Martial Art teachers. | | | | language, and rowdy behavior, observing curfews, |
| Tony began to understand. We made a plan: | | | | and all other type of family rules. |
| 1. Appearance. | | | | Tony was a good kid with some misguided thinking. |
| "Tony, why is your Karate uniform always so neat | | | | He thought, "I am not going to respect anybody who |
| and clean?" | | | | doesn't respect me." He didn't understand that you |
| "I just like it that way, I guess." | | | | must first give respect in order to get respect. |
| "Well, you certainly seem to take pride in your | | | | |