Rant of the day

Yes, time for a rant. This is part of the mission of the Ernie Reyes Martial Arts school, which held a "Martial Arts Spectacular" yesterday.

"Our focus is to enhance our students' choice of developing personal power, discipline, and respect..."
To the mother who let her child (a martial arts student) stand all the way through the performance, blocking the sight of those behind her, even after she was asked to sit down, I ask you...does that sound like respect for others?

I asked her to sit down, and she did for awhile, but then she stood for the rest of the show. Her mother did nothing about it. (In fact, I think she told her mother that I had asked her to sit down, because the mother turned around and looked at me. But then she encouraged her to stand!) I suppose I could have directed my request to the mother instead of the daughter, but I thought it would add to my stress if she refused. I am not great at confrontations, especially when it's clear that a parent thinks her child should be able to do whatever she likes. I was so annoyed by this that I had to move to the vacant chair on the other side of Mike.

However, moving seats only helped my sightline. I continued to stew about parents who do not teach their children manners. Respect, my ass!

Okay--rant done. Thanks for listening, blog readers!

Comments

  1. I have asked the Sensei to use events such as these as teaching moments. Does nothing for the short term, but in the long term learning to think about others, and having the student in the class tell the family what the behavior should be can be more effective ... and certainly less stressful for you.

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  2. Thanks for your comment, Lisa. Personally, I have loved being reminded to show respect for others (when observing martial arts classes), and I can only hope that other parents are soaking up the same lessons...but it doesn't always work that way. :)

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