One does not have to be a parent to act like an adult, especially with kids. Adults have ceded acting as role models in fear of the reactions of others, to the detriment of children's development. I was taught to respect adults as a default. If they didn't deserve my respect my parents dealt with things.
I only half agree with that. Respect should never be automatic; it needs to be earned. If I were a kid, I would respect very few of the adults I see around me today.
Respect means very different things in different cultures.
For celtic/germanic-originated cultures it means something you give freely and something you work to deserve to be given; it cannot ever be demanded or forced from someone.
Have you served in the Middle East? Doesn't mean even remotely the same thing there: to them, it means showing deference and acquiescence to the stronger. Thus it can be demanded and forced from someone via (the threat of) humiliation and abuse.
One does not have to be a parent to act like an adult, especially with kids. Adults have ceded acting as role models in fear of the reactions of others, to the detriment of children's development. I was taught to respect adults as a default. If they didn't deserve my respect my parents dealt with things.
I only half agree with that. Respect should never be automatic; it needs to be earned. If I were a kid, I would respect very few of the adults I see around me today.
Respect means very different things in different cultures.
For celtic/germanic-originated cultures it means something you give freely and something you work to deserve to be given; it cannot ever be demanded or forced from someone.
Have you served in the Middle East? Doesn't mean even remotely the same thing there: to them, it means showing deference and acquiescence to the stronger. Thus it can be demanded and forced from someone via (the threat of) humiliation and abuse.