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Being Respectful

Posted on Wednesday, June 16, 2021
This weekend while camping I noticed something that was upsetting. A man had drowned and lost his life at our little campground beach. Instead of campers giving the police and family distance to do their job and recover the young man, they stood around and watched. Some people even had their children watching - like it was some kind of free life lesson! Imagine how appalled I was when I noticed a few teenagers live streaming video and sending snapchat pictures to their friends! It costs NOTHING to be a decent human and give the police and family the space they need to grieve and do their job. And instead, it seems like people have lost the concept of common decency and have now been swept away by their wonder and curiosity.

It bothered me so much that I thought I would just touch base with our followers and remind them to talk to their children about what to do if they ever find themselves in a situation that they may want to watch, but should respect boundaries.

Car crashes - we see a lot of rubbernecking with car accidents around my town. A one car accident can pile up pretty quick because people want to see what is going on, causing further accidents. When driving while there is an accident on the road, be extra aware about what is going on around you as you drive. Follow police directions and traffic flows.

Fights & Police activity - It should be a no brainer to stay your distance and get the heck out of dodge when there is a potentially dangerous situation arising. Instead of sticking around, get out and away from the situation as fast as you can. You never know when things will go south and can cause serious harm. And in the world we live in now, kids would rather video tape a fight rather than putting effort into stopping it. We see this a lot with school fights and bullies picking on other kids. And next thing you know, it can end up on the internet and destroy someone's reputation, or even worse, their self worth.
Explain to your children that if they are ever in a bully-fight situation that they need to intervene after distancing themselves. Grab an adult or call 911 if it's physical. And put the phone down and stop recording!

Recently I have learned that not everyone pulls over when a funeral passes by. I was raised that it's respectful to pull to the side and let the funeral procession pass completely. Not all states have made this a law, but in some states, you can be in serious trouble if you fail to yield to a procession!

I have also noticed when I take my kiddo out in public, we get ALOT of visual attention because he has Down Syndrome. I also noticed, it's not much of the younger kids that stare anymore, it's the older generation. It breaks my heart some of the looks he gets from people over the age of 80! It's always fantastic to see kids want to interact with him and give him high fives instead of turning away. He really enjoys that kind of attention! And as a mom of a special needs kiddo, I can say one of my biggest struggles is when I am telling my child "no" to giving a stranger a hug, and that stranger says something along the lines of "it's ok". We set boundaries and it's hard to enforce them when someone else encourages it. So please keep that in mind if you ever find yourself in that situation!

Life is full of learning experiences! Share your suggestions for being a decent human below!

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