It is impossible to define respect. Defining it without being subjective would be impossible. We constantly demand respect from others without realizing that respect is like a pendulum: it only swings two ways. Once you push it to one side, it comes back again.

We can see the different levels of respect on our campus every day. Some think that people in the school are being too sensitive, while others think that people at SSFS are being rude and disrespectful. How can we find the precise balance that will suit these parties?

In order to find the answers to this question, I asked people from different social groups ranging from the faculty to international students about the nature of the problem and their ideas for solutions. Everyone agreed that disrespect exists at SSFS. One of the most common issues is that students disrespect teachers; physics teacher, Sharon Wall, explained that students “refuse to do what [teachers] respectfully ask them to.” Students also make disrespectful jokes in public. Eli Casavant commented, “Everyday I can hear someone make gay jokes.”  The other issues were, as Sebastian Goodman pointed out, “stealing from Beestro and cutting the lines in the cafeteria” and, as Haoran Zhu said, “disrespect towards the views of Conservatives.”

However, almost everyone said that people at Sandy Spring Friends School “overreact.” For Jacob Orloff, “Everyone in this school thinks that they are entitled to be shown respect.” Elliott Dobberstein added, “People in this school have created a world where they can feel as comfortable as possible, and anything that threatens its stability is an asshole.”  For Israel Hammon, “It is the most respectful place I have ever seen.” When asked why the idea of respect has garnered so much attention this year, no one seemed to know the answer.

Here is my hypothesis. It looks like the reason the lack of respect is such a prominent issue in our campus is that some people were just not pleased with something about the school and then started telling their friends about it. In return, their friends spread those complaints around the campus without having experienced it, but they told others that they did. We do not question what we are told and blindly tell it to everyone else without knowing if we are telling the truth or just a rumor.

And why this year? Well, it goes all the way back to the day of the presidential election on November 8, 2016. The day the dark cloud stood over our campus. The day many of us swore to stand up for ourselves, our friends, and those who cannot defend themselves. While it is a very honorable and the right thing to do, I think we became too protective. We began taking everything seriously and close to the heart. I understand that all the stuff that is going on like the shootings, racism, and oppression of minorities make us take out our shields and go into the battle, but we are not at war all the time. Not everyone is our enemy and not every word is an insult.

Finally, for all those people that say SSFS “makes you unprepared for the real world”, I will have to say that it is not your position to judge and train the life skills of the students. Everyone knows that “the real world” is ugly and unmerciful, but many people came to Sandy Spring Friends School to get a break from that. They come here for safety. This institution is meant to hide people from the rough world and you cannot complain saying that people here are too sensitive, because they will be. That is what you have signed up for! It does not matter if you decided or your parents decided. The bottom line is that you, in one way or another, chose to come here.

Is it right to hide from the “real world”? I cannot tell you. You are the ones who make the decisions and chose the ideas you want to believe in. Just do not forget to consider all the perspectives before making your choice.