Climbing Builds…Respect

Rock climbing is not only fun and great for the development of physical fitness, it also builds many positive character traits. We have been highlighting five positive traits in a blog series over the past few weeks. We previously discussed Courage, Diligence, Responsibility and Kindness & Caring. Our final post focuses on Respect.

As part of your climbing program, consider intentionally promoting respect by establishing the following guidelines:

Respect Yourself

• Give your best effort during climbing activities.
• Be proud of your climbing accomplishments.

Respect Others

• Be an active listener.
• Be helpful – Offer tips to help other climbers.
• Be kind.
• Encourage other climbers – Say: “You got this!” “Great job!” “Congratulations!”
• Use respectful language – Say please and thank you.
• Work cooperatively with others during rock climbing activities.
• Take turns.

Respect Instructor

• Be on time & ready to climb.
• Pay attention when the instructor is speaking.
• Follow climbing procedures and rules.
• Wear proper clothing (no jewelry and athletic shoes).

Respect Climbing Wall & Accessories

• Use the climbing wall and accessories as instructed.

Hold a discussion with your group to talk about what respect looks like, sounds like and feels like. Make a poster of the responses and post it near your climbing wall as a reminder. Promoting respect along with other positive character traits will help make your climbing program the safest, most enjoyable and growth-promoting that it can be. You can also consider adding Character Holds to your Traverse Wall to further emphasize the importance of positive character traits.