Meet RESPECT Board Member: Lt. Howard Banks

Why is RESPECT important to you?

RESPECT is important to me because I have personally witnessed the positive impact that it has had on the youth in our communities.  It is an amazing organization that is full of a diverse group of individuals that all have a common goal of wanting to mentor and teach our youth life skills to protect themselves and others.

What is your favorite RESPECT program and why?

My favorite REPECT program is “Reporting”.  This program focuses on bullying and the serious effects that can come from it.  This program teaches students how to respect others and provides them tools of what to do if they witness someone being bullied or they are being bullied themselves.  I feel teaching students these tools are extremely important, as many times they do not know what to do or do not speak up for a variety of reasons.  RESPECT helps to instill confidence in students to do the right thing, especially when that means going against actions of friends.

How did you get involved with RESPECT?

I got involved with RESPECT when I was a school resource officer and was running a mentorship program.  A parent of a student in my mentorship program was on the board of directors for RESPECT and introduced me to Patricia.  RESPECT came to one of our mentorship meetings and presented a few of their programs for our students.  I loved the programs and I started going to the RESPECT meetings to give advice about future programs.  I later joined the board of directors and have been a member ever since.

What would it have been like to have RESPECT when you were a kid in school?

If RESPECT was around when I was a kid in school, I believe it would have been a helpful reminder to make good choices and also how something may seem like a joke to some, and the intent may not be to bully, but it matters how the person that is the victim of the joke feels.  Youth need to be reminded to put themselves in the other person’s shoes.  I feel this also would have reminded us to look out for others that were in fact being bullied.

What do you like about being on the board of RESPECT?

I like that the board is diverse.  Everyone’s opinion is valued and board members do not have to be afraid to voice their opinion.  Everyone has a unique skill set, so we can always get things done.  The networking is amazing, because I have found myself needing advice or resources and I could simply email or call another board member for assistance.