In my return to Charlotte to speak to the kids at my old high school, the focus of my talk will be about treating other people with respect. Coming off winning the league award for Most Sportsmanlike Player I want to springboard off that since Sportsmanship is based in respect.  There's a lot going on in the world right now in respects to the treatment of people of color and the LGBTQ+ community.  A lot of "pundits" will say that high school kids are too young to be dealing with these issues, but of course, that's hogwash. These young people see people like them, and how they are treated, on TV, movies and in public interactions.  Bullying is a term that gets thrown around a lot these days, but a bully isn't just the mean person in the hall who trips you or pulls your pigtails. What about the random person in the street who directs a racial or homophobic slur at your parents, or your friends? You think kids don't internalize that stuff. "If she's a *blank*, I must be a *blank* too." What about the stuff you see on the internet? Most of which is awful.  Your local sports team or school posts something Pro-equality and there's 10000 comments about how awful that is, and you shouldn't support that, and "just stick to basketball". Kids read that stuff. I want to let them know that they matter and they are loved and to be able to sort out the good from the bad. But it starts and ends with respect.