The theme of this month is “showing respect towards others”. Let us share a story on this theme with you. Once there was an old man who spread a rumor that his neighbor was a thief. The young neighbor got arrested by the police as a result. After some time, the young neighbor proved himself innocent and returned to his home. Learning that the old man was the one who got him arrested, the young man got very angry and sued him.
In court when the old man was asked why he was spreading false information about his neighbor, the old man said with no regrets, “I was just passing comments on him, it is not that much harmful.” Before giving any sentence on the case, the judge asked the old man to write down the comments he made about his neighbor on some pieces of paper and throw them out on the way to his home. He did what the judge told him to, but was unaware of reason why he was asked to do such thing.
The next day before giving the sentence, the judge asked the old man to bring those papers back. The old man replied, “I can’t find them as the wind blew those papers away, and they’re now spread over the entire town.” The judge points out, “Just like that, your comments may spread far away and harm others. When you feel regretful and want to retract what you said, it’s already too late. Many people have already heard of those comments, and some of them might spread them out as they believe that what you said was true” The old man realized his mistake and apologized to the young neighbor.
Similar stories continue to occur over and over even in the present, as it’s easy for us to forget to stay respectful towards others when we can anonymously speak of anything on the Internet. Wrongly accusing someone of a crime could end up with legal consequences on ourselves. Even if we weren’t caught, our words can easily be spread all over the Internet in a matter of seconds and cause great harm to the victims. Therefore, always remember to stay respectful even on the Internet and understand that you are responsible for what you said there as well.
Tuesday, 29 July 2025