Rights, Responsibilities, Rules, and Rewards

Rights, Responsibilities, Rules, and Rewards
(suggested in response to our "off-topic" discussion on 3/19/03.)

"Socrates" Bill of Rights
1. You have the right to participate.
2. You have the right to be heard.
3. You have the right to remain silent.
4. You have the right to be treated with respect.
5. You have the right to express contrary opinions.
6. You have the right to be free from intimidation and personal attack.
7. You have the right to change your mind.
8. You have the right to say "I don't know".
9. You have the right to speak up in defense of your rights.
10. You have the right to question anything (including these rights).

"Socrates" Bill of Responsibilities
1. You have a responsibility to respect and defend the rights of others.
2. You have a responsibility to encourage the participation of others.
3. You have a responsibility to listen without interrupting or engaging in side conversations.
4. You have a responsibility to wait your turn before speaking.
5. You have a responsibility to speak loud and clear so others can hear.
6. You have a responsibility to limit your turn to a reasonable length.
7. You have a responsibility to stay on topic.
8. You have a responsibility to avoid personal attacks, criticism, and name-calling.
9. You have a responsibility to keep a sense of humor.
10. You have a responsibility to help others live up to their responsibilities.

Rules of Engagement
1. Wait to be called on before speaking.
2. Yield to the moderator after speaking.
3. Address the whole group when speaking.
4. Speak loud and clear so others can hear.
5. Stay on topic.
6. Refrain from one-on-one debates.
7. Refrain from interrupting or engaging in side conversations.
8. Refrain from personal attack, criticism, and name-calling.
9. Refrain from using hostile tone of voice or intimidating body language.
10. Refrain from absolute statements and grand generalizations.

Rewards of Involvement
1. You stand to gain increased understanding and insight.
2. You stand to gain intellectual stimulation.
3. You stand to gain new perspectives.
4. You stand to gain the opportunity to be heard.
5. You stand to gain the opportunity influence others.
6. You stand to gain motivation to organize your thoughts.
7. You stand to gain practice in articulating your ideas.
8. You stand to gain feedback for your thoughts and feelings.
9. You stand to gain the experience of group thinking.
10. You stand to gain the fellowship of others.