Respecting Authority: Lessons from Childhood
Read the excerpt from Barrio Boy by Ernesto Galarza
Every mother in the village could ask you to do an errand. If I was in the middle of a game, or just sitting in the street watching the zopilotes, some neighbor would call me: "Ernesto, come here and take this to Doña Eduvijes." What right she had to order me around no one ever explained, but I was taught to move right up, answer "Si, señora," and do the errand.
In fact, running errands was the special business of any boy or girl between the ages of four and six.
Based on the details in this excerpt, which lesson did the author learn in his youth?
Sitting in the street is dangerous.
Running errands is a special privilege.
Anyone can order young children around.
Adults must be respected and obeyed.
Which lesson did the author learn in his youth? Adults must be respected and obeyed. Explanation: In this text, the author describes his childhood. He tells us that when he was a child, he believed that all adults had the right to ask him to do something, and that he was supposed to obey this regardless of the reason. This complete obedience was only in place between children and adults, suggesting that children valued the authority of adults highly. Therefore, we can conclude that Ernesto learned that adults must be respected and obeyed.