Have you noticed the extra wall decoration around campus? You may have seen Civility Tip #331, which says, “It’s called your inside voice for a reason. If you never learned how to behave in public, please go back to kindergarten and retake that week. Geez.”
This message, along with 12 others, comes from the Student Affairs Committee to remind students, faculty and staff to be respectful of one another.
The 10 committee members work in departments often on the receiving end of student vexation, including financial aid, admissions and records, and the bursar.
Although the posters were created to spark discussion, they simultaneously insult those who already conduct themselves in a courteous manner. They shouldn’t. We can all stand an occasional reminder.
If peer pressure reinforced positive attributes instead of always being about negatives, we probably wouldn’t need signs. But instead of plastering the college, perhaps the signs should be concentrated in the offices where the worst transgressions occur.
Wouldn’t it be nice to have something to engage students — or distract them — while they wait in long lines?
Unfortunately, the messages also conjure up images of cubbies, small desks and alphabet carpets. Students shouldn’t feel like they’ve traveled back in time to elementary school. We all choose to pay ever-increasing costs of tuition and textbooks for a higher education to make our way up the socioeconomic ladder.
Otherwise, bring back recess and nap time.
