Everyone seeks respect.

Managers and heads of companies try to earn the respect of their employees so that they will work hard for them. In sports, athletes need to earn the respect of their teammates in order for the team to gel together and play well.

However, as you may have noticed, teenagers these days have little respect for anything.

The first thing that many teens don't respect is their country. Everyday before school begins at Menomonee Falls High, the principal recites the Pledge of Allegiance. As there is a flag in each classroom, students are expected to stand to show the proper respect for their country's flag.

My homeroom and two other homerooms are in the cafeteria -- a total of about 60 students. When the pledge is being recited, only about 10 teens, including me, stand. This is absolutely ridiculous. Our country has had hundreds upon hundreds of thousands die in many wars to give us the privilege to live in freedom. The least we can do is to stand and give the flag the respect that it deserves. Once in my homeroom, we had a substitute teacher who was an old war veteran. He was appalled at the fact that less than five kids stood for the pledge.

Another aspect is how little respect teens give authority figures. In school, I regularly see students talk back or make snide comments right to their teacher's face. A teacher will ask for something to be done, and the student will either ignore them or say something incredibly rude. This type of behavior problem also extends towards parental authority. A girl I know says she can't stand her mom telling her what to do and what time to be home. That's incredible! Teens, if you live in your parents' household, you have to obey their rules. You live in THEIR house.

Another problem with teens and respect is how little teens respect their peers. If a person is not part of their group, it's almost certain that they will be ridiculed or have their faults pointed out -- often quite nastily. Even among friends, teens constantly go back and forth with name-calling and jabs at the psyche of their friends.

Some teens also show very little respect for themselves. For fun, and at some parties, teens do drugs and use alcohol. Are their lives really all that boring? Both of these activities take teens "out of their minds," making them high and drunk. Not only is it illegal for teens to drink and use drugs, but it's dangerous as well. You can get caught by your parents, the police, or get in an accident that could kill you. These things also trash your body. You can have an equal or greater amount of fun without any of those things. Some might say teens have been rebelling and using drugs and such since the '60s and '70s (or before), but that still doesn't make it right.

Now, I am not immune to fault in this area. Ask my parents, and they will tell you all the problems that I have including some of the aforementioned items.

So where does this lack of respect stem from? One possible root could be from adults themselves. I umpire for my town's Little League, and as an umpire I will, at times, make a bad call. All umpires occasionally blow a close call. However, parents and coaches will go ballistic at a bad call (and sometimes at a good one that doesn't go their way. -ed.) and will continue to throw sarcastic or menacing remarks toward the umpire the rest of the game. Some parents go far enough that the umpire is forced to kick them out of the game. What type of example is this for the kids? It's okay to yell and scream at someone in authority over a close call? It's Little League, where the goal is to have fun and allow the kids to play baseball.

We as teens have to realize that as soon as we hit college or our first big job (or any job for that matter) we have to respect and follow the rules, check our attitudes at the door and do exactly as we're instructed. The boss won't take any disrespect or laziness. We, the teens of today, will hold most of the jobs in the next 10 to 15 years. We need to seek respect for our country, our authority and peers, and for ourselves or who knows what our nation will end up like.