What To Do With Rude People? Part 1

It happens to us all, doesn’t it?

You’re going along with your day, the sun is shining, you make it to work on time, then WHAM! A person is rude to you for apparent reason at all.

Oh no! Your entire day is now ruined because of this one act. It sticks in your mind. How could someone possibly be rude to me? I’m one of the good ones! Or so I think…

I bring this up because I am a high school teacher. I have students behaving rude to me all the time. It really is quite crazy, but you never know what factors are at play.

Maybe the person had a bad day themselves. Maybe they were brought up in a certain way where they thought this behavior was okay. Maybe they have some type of anger problem and can’t control themselves!

There are many different ways to approach someone who is rude:

-You could engage them and be rude back.

-You could ask them what their problem is.

-You could pretend the rude event didn’t even happen!

There really is no wrong or right answer here. If it happens to me in the classroom, obviously I have to address it. If I don’t address it, then it shows complacency and the student thinks that it is perfectly fine behavior.

Something to keep in mind is that when a person is rude to you, it’s usually an issue within themselves and has nothing to do with you.

For me personally outside the classroom, my solution is to simply stay clear from negative and mean people. They aren’t worth my time or energy.

What’s your solution to rude people?