Kenna Gardiner next author in 2016-2017 MLHS senior student editorial series
What I Learned From Andy Griffith
The Andy Griffith Show has always been one of my favorites. The small southern town charm and the relationship between neighbors have great appeal to me, mostly because of the respect they all had for each other. Opie and his friends respected Andy and his position as sheriff and often asked for his wise advice from his years of experience. It was not unusual to see neighbors helping each other and people thinking about how their actions would affect the others in the situation. Our society needs to bring back respect and renew its importance.
One of the biggest places our society lacks respect is with our leaders. Today, we have many different opinions and images in our heads about police officers and other people in leadership positions. Because of the actions of some of these leaders, some people have decided that they do not need to respect any of our leaders. These people have been put into a position of leadership for a reason, and the majority of them have our best in mind. Following the last presidential election, some people did not get their way so they refuse to give Donald Trump any respect. This is very disappointing to me because we are one nation. If you do not agree with someone you are free to exercise your freedoms, but being disrespectful and saying horrible things about someone is not the way to handle it.
In The Andy Griffith Show Opie has a tremendous amount of respect for Andy, Aunt Bee, and even Barney. I believe that those who are older than we are deserve as much respect as Andy, Aunt Bee, and Barney received from Opie. People who have lived more life than we have probably have some good tips, and giving them respect and listening to them could help make life a lot easier and keep us from making the same mistakes of having to go through the hurt our predecessors have already endured. I work in a nursing home, and the residents often give me advice like, “Don’t rush your life because when this part of it ends you will spend the rest of it wanting it back.” On The Andy Griffith Show Opie and his friends knew the boundaries set for them by their parents and other authority figures, and they knew what would happen to them if they disobeyed. Kids need to realize that their parents and those in positions of authority know what is best for them and are trying to keep them safe and better them as human beings.
Another lesson from Andy is that he was usually focused on the feelings and needs of those around him, especial doing as much as he could to keep Barney from being hurt. As Americans we are living for the “American Dream,” which does not include others’ success. Instead, we are worried about whether our actions will help us reach the top or if they will make others think better of us, rather than if they will make others feel better. In order to better our nation and our world, we need to be considerate of those around us and respect each other’s opinions, needs, and belongings. Opie learned this when he was competing for a job with a boy who was helping his parents pay bills because his father was sick. Even though Opie wanted the job, he realized that his friend needed the job more than he did.
Leaders deserve our respect because they work hard for us, we need to respect and take advice from those who are older than us, and we need to respect others by thinking about our actions and our words. Too many times we complain about the direction our country and world are going, but we continue to focus on ourselves and disregard our neighbors, their opinions, and their well being. Although it is no longer 1960, I believe we can learn a lot from Andy Griffith and the rest of the Mayberry community.