National Civility Month

I heard the saying, "treat people how you want to be treated" when I was young. I remember coming home from school and telling my father how some of the other kids were mean and unfair. I was looking for him to tell me that he would come up to the school and handle things for me, but instead he calmly said, “Treat people how you want to be treated.” Since then, these words have been ingrained in my mind, my heart and in my actions. Not to say that it makes me perfect, but it sets the foundation of how I conduct myself and the expectation of what I would like to receive from others. As we prepare to recognize National Civility Month, let us learn more about it. 

People being civil to one another is what makes the world a whole lot better and is the key focus of National Civility Month, held in August each year. This holiday was founded to help the world remember to treat others the way we wish to be treated ourselves—with kindness, empathy, and respect. Civility ties in with the practice of self-reflection, to check yourself, to take responsibility or hold yourself accountable for your actions.

This sounds wonderful, doesn’t it? A world where we live and work and exist with one another in harmony, without caring about anyone’s color, creed, sexual orientation, background or status that might be different from ours. A place where everyone says, 'excuse me', 'please', and 'thank you'—fundamentals that we hopefully learned when we were younger. So how do we incorporate this into our everyday lives? We can start by acknowledging and respecting each other as individuals even if we do not fully understand one another. 

As a member of the IDEA Committee, Chicago Chapter, I can say we take pride in Inclusivity, Diversity, Exclusivity and Accessibility. This ties in perfectly with National Civility Month. Globally, these initiatives are encouraging more conversations about how we can make sure we do our part to ensure everyone’s voice is heard and acknowledged, and that change is implemented. A big part of these initiatives is caring about everyone’s well-being as individuals by being respectful, courteous, and polite.

The Association of Legal Administrators (ALA) based in Chicago has taken the liberty of adding National Civility Month to their quarterly observances calendar which can be found on their website: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility Spotlight (alanet.org). In this section, they highlight several observances and explain the significance of each one. They feel it is a great opportunity to gain experience and learn more about the meaning behind the observances you know or don’t know. There are several organizations and education facilities that acknowledge and promote National Civility Month. As with other holidays we observe, let us try and observe this one 365 days of the year. This way, we know we are continually working towards creating a respectful culture that can coexist personally and professionally.