Hi everyone. I'm hear to sing a little song for you all, it goes R-E-S-P-E-C-T finds out what it means to me! And trust me it means a lot not only to me, but it should to you too.

Respect is many things. It's admiring others for what they do and who they are, but it's also about how you treat and take care of yourself. Think about it. Do you have respec for the people around you, and more importantly, yourself?

I certainly hope so. When I say respect yourself, I am mostly reffering to a certain persona that most girls I know like to give off. It may not be in every school, but I certainly see too much of it at mine.

They saunter down the hallway, gum smacking, with so much makeup on a coloring book would be put to shame, acting ditzy, with their breasts hanging out.

Now take a step back and ask yourself, “Is this me?” If it is, I suggest you keep reading this article.

For guys, I guess I can't speak with as much authority because I am a girl, but from what I've seen guys engage in this whole not-respecting themselves so they can try to come across as someone else, someone cooler. In my school, all I hear is the constant highschool boy/lax bro lingo of “worddd” and “dude” and “swag” and “thats straight/not straight”. I mean do you think you sound educated? And for the love of god pull your pants up!

I know highschool is rough. Trust me, I'm a junior in highschool and most days, I can not wait to get out. But what's the point in not being yourself? You are not going to see all of these people again in a few years, so why not just be you? You weren't made to be like everyone else.

Oh that's right. Because you want to be socially acceptable. But is being socially acceptable really better than being your true self? Who wants to wake up every day and put on an act just so they can maintain a certain reputation? I mean, is it really worth it?

Now lets switch gears and go back to girls for a minute. One of my biggest pet peeves is when a girl acts stupid just to get a guys attention. Guys should like you for you, not because you try to come across as a, for lack of a better word, slut.

I mean honestly, I have NEVER understood why girls believe that walking around wearing revealing clothing and tons of makeup and acting like they have an IQ of 5 will get a quality guy to like them. Honestly girls, dressing immodestly will only get you attention from perverts and pigs.

See my point? If not, heres a little story for you.

I have a friend who fits almost every quality that I listed above about how certain girls act around guys. And the quote definitely applies to her too. She wears her “booty shorts” to school, lets her bra show under her t-shirts, or just in general. She wears major push up bras so boys will look at her boobs, and she acts like she is intoxicated or a moron, constantly.

And where did that get her? Nowhere.

All she has achieved so far is zero respect. One boy took advantage of her for one day and then the next day said he never really liked her. Another boy took advantage of her constantly and emotionally abused her saying that she was a disgusting, dumb, and other horrible things that shouldn't be repeated. But what did she do through all of these? She just took it. Because she didn't believe she was worth anything more than what he was saying to her.

And that is the negative effect that not having self-respect is going have on your mental state, your emotional state, and your life. Who wants to wake up every day and say oh I hope a girl notices me because I'm being a jerk or oh I hope a guy notices my breasts instead of my personality today. Hopefully no one. And if you do, I suggest you start respecting yourself sooner rather than later.