Sentry Page Protection
Please Wait...
Orisa Lifestyle Activities: Week 7
Seniority & Respect: In Yoruba society, seniority is synonymous with respect. Even is one person is just one year older than the other, the younger person shows some deference to the senior. Deference can be demonstrated in speech, by using the pronoun that is equivalent to addressing someone as thou, sir or madam. Likewise, a younger person shows deference in gesture, by bowing or kneeling before the one who is senior. In exchange, the senior person demonstrates appreciation and generosity towards the younger person. This can be done in speech, by reciting a variety of praises onto the respectful younger person. That is, the elder person might say, “You have done well. May you live long and be blessed by Olódùmarè,” for example. Appreciation and generosity might also be expressed in deed by offering the younger person like obi abata (kola nut), food or even money. To the contrary, lack of respect is highly frowned upon and never tolerated quietly. Even a full grown adult is expected to demonstrate respect for eldership as a social institution. The activity that follows is designed to help you to explore the importance of seniority and respect within your family and community.
ACTIVITIES
Please complete the following:
KNOW: Discuss these ideas and practices with your family. Let’s brainstorm all the different kinds of seniority. Generally speaking, you can be senior by age, by the length of time you have been working at a particular place or how long you have lived in a place. But in a family, what is the best definition of seniority? Based upon that definition, how important is seniority to each of us, on a scale of 1-10 (1 being not important and 10 being extremely important)? What are some things that we believe are important about seniority? How do we benefit from having people who are senior to others in our family? How does seniority help our family to function and prosper?
COMMIT: Discuss how you feel when you see a family member disrespect his or her senior? Tell why you feel that way? What does it mean to you when a younger family member disrespects an older family member? Now look at it the other way around. Discuss how you feel when you see a family member show respect his or her senior? Tell why you feel that way? What does it mean to you when a younger family member respects an older family member? Name one thing you can do to promote and assure respect within the family.
PRACTICE: Practice respect for one whole week. Try to catch your family members practicing respect for one week. Everyday, hold a brief family meeting to share all the instances in which you caught someone being respectful. At the meetings, be sure to get feedback from everyone on how it felt to catch people being respectful, how it felt to be recognized for being respectful and how it felt to be shown respect.
ACTIVITIES
Please complete the following:
KNOW: Discuss these ideas and practices with your family. Let’s brainstorm all the different kinds of seniority. Generally speaking, you can be senior by age, by the length of time you have been working at a particular place or how long you have lived in a place. But in a family, what is the best definition of seniority? Based upon that definition, how important is seniority to each of us, on a scale of 1-10 (1 being not important and 10 being extremely important)? What are some things that we believe are important about seniority? How do we benefit from having people who are senior to others in our family? How does seniority help our family to function and prosper?
COMMIT: Discuss how you feel when you see a family member disrespect his or her senior? Tell why you feel that way? What does it mean to you when a younger family member disrespects an older family member? Now look at it the other way around. Discuss how you feel when you see a family member show respect his or her senior? Tell why you feel that way? What does it mean to you when a younger family member respects an older family member? Name one thing you can do to promote and assure respect within the family.
PRACTICE: Practice respect for one whole week. Try to catch your family members practicing respect for one week. Everyday, hold a brief family meeting to share all the instances in which you caught someone being respectful. At the meetings, be sure to get feedback from everyone on how it felt to catch people being respectful, how it felt to be recognized for being respectful and how it felt to be shown respect.
