Let’s Value Respect

We don't have a culture of respect at this school. Mmmmmm, the student body responds, proving our point. We don't think it is a hot take to say that our behavior during the Martin Luther King day school meeting was embarrassing. People were falling asleep, using their phones, and chatting nonstop. While we admit that Dr. Keisha Blaine's talk was more akin to a college lecture than a school meeting presentation, there is absolutely no excuse for our behavior. It demonstrates entitlement to believe that speakers must alter their presentations for the sole purpose of entertaining us. In addition, about a ⅓ of the upperclassmen didn't show up to the Q&A section after lunch—so much for acting with care, integrity and respect.

Pay attention, and you'll notice this behavior everywhere. We yell names and whoop in concerts like we're at a rave when there are clear rules of conduct stressed to us be-forehand. We trash our dorms to prank our friends without thinking of repercussions on our hard working custodians. Yes, we know it sounds very paternalistic-be quiet, sit down, listen, don't cause trouble—but it's not wrong. No one cares about your SNL-worthy quip about someone on stage during school meeting. No one thinks it's cool that you can't respect basic hygiene standards in the dorm. Quite frankly, it's embarrassing for parents to send their child to a boarding school for 80 thousand dollars a year only for them to urinate down a stairwell. Our culture is a double-edged sword. We want people to feel comfortable enough that they treat Deerfield like a home. We smile at nicknames given by faculty members and get excited when they invite us to play with their pets and get to know them outside of the classroom. We laugh and joke with the people who work in Greer, and most of us ready our best quips for Jake and Kevin when we get to their windows. We treat our peers as siblings; together we microwave 1 a.m. popcorn and cringe as we are reprimanded for being late for curfew.

The problem isn't our closeness. The problem is when we feel like this closeness exempts us from basic courtesy. As a community, we've slowly fallen into the belief that if something is humorous people have to let it slide, no matter how tasteless or ill-timed. We only consider our viewpoints when deciding whether to fart spray other rooms or act belligerently off campus. We've limited our decision-making to only consider the feelings of our tiny social circles. If a bike is stolen and no one checks the security cameras, does that action even constitute theft? We've decided it doesn't.

In the dining hall, we constantly crowd the kitchens even after the staff told us to keep the way clear for carts and food countless times-be-cause the only thing that matters is our convenience, and if it isn't about us we shouldn't matter. We treat the people who keep this school running like they're invisible, we don't think about the messes they have to constantly clean up after us.

We understand that the obsession with humor above all else is not just a Deerfield phenomenon. Browse X or Instagram for fifteen minutes and you're bound to see comedy that is overtly racist, misogynistic, or xenophobic, posted and reposted because our culture values a cheap laugh more than empathy. We've collectively decided that the means always justify the end, so long as the end is a killer punchline.

This kind of behavior doesn't just go against Deerfield's student pledge, it goes against being a decent human being. Being considerate of the work that other people do to make your experience at Deerfield smooth shouldn't be an enforced rule, it should be something we just do.

We shouldn't treat those who tell us to behave better as killjoys; we should pause, realize what we've done wrong, and course correct. You can prank your friends without disrupting the lives of your dorm mates or custodial staff (The Scroll Board would like to commend the Midnight Cheeser). You can zone out of school meeting without being blatantly disrespectful to those on stage. You can talk with your friends during lunch away from the kitchen entrance.

Respect isn't hard, so as school, let's embrace it.