Thoughts on Dignity and Respect

Tuesday, March Tenth

 

In my blog post about visiting the National Archives, I mentioned that it would be nice if the rotunda was an area where silence and respect would be observed by everyone. More specifically- the many classes of kids (I assume most, if not all, are 8^th graders), who are often seen goofing off in exhibits, or sitting on their phones looking bored. It is difficult to gather your own thoughts and reflect on what these documents mean to our country, with kids skating on the glossy marble floors behind you, and the constant babbling of loud-mouthed kids on field trips.

While we were visiting the Lincoln Memorial the other day, I noticed two signs in the Memorial that asked for silence and respect. I sure heard a lot of loud voices, and saw little respect. Kids were turning the Memorial into a photo booth, and constantly running around taking “selfies.” Many adults were also joining in, but what I noticed the most of was kids on their field trips not paying any attention whatsoever to the Memorial. Instead they were hanging out in the tiny gift shop, taking selfies, texting, or yelling across the room to each other. The same was true in the National Archives and the American History Museum. You would see groups of them huddled wherever you went, acting as if they didn’t care one bit. In one of the exhibits on war at the American History Museum, my Mom and I noticed a bunch of kids sitting in the corner of one of the displays, blocking off one of the entryways. They had their phones all plugged into the wall, and were hunched over, texting or on the internet.

It’s sad to see a generation so self-absorbed and seemingly uninterested in fascinating pieces of our history, especially to me since I am from this same generation. I know exactly what it’s like to be in a class full of people, where you want to earn good grades and be interested in the material being taught, but also wanting to hang out with the popular people and not act like a nerd. I completely get it. Some kids aren’t interested at all in what’s being taught or what they might see in a museum, so they tend to have “cool” arrogant attitudes. Other kids want to be cool too, so they end up goofing off as well. It’s sad, because I know without a doubt that my generation has the ability to be intelligent, respectful, dignified, and caring. It just doesn’t seem like there is often proof of that, when all you see is kids hunched over on their phones, or running around a museum. I know that adults make comments about it being scary to think about people from my generation becoming president or running important businesses, and I don’t disagree. It seems like a scary thought when you see hundreds of kids who act like they just don’t care, and think it’s funny. If only we could give up this facade of ignorance, and be the respectful, mature people that we should be. Before there were many schools, some kids would give anything to have a solid education. Some would even find some way to teach themselves if they didn’t have the ability to attend a school.

 

 

Although I’m finished with high school, I have so much more to learn, and am interested in learning about the history of our country, among many other things. And I did goof off in some classes, and I’m sure at times I acted like I didn’t care or have respect. We need to respect the people around us, as well as have respect for the men and women who are no longer with us, but played a big part in our Nation’s history. I know there are others out there who do care, and might just not want to show it. As a member of this generation, I wanted to express my thoughts on this topic, which I feel is important and pertinent to our current trip.