The idea of civility comes from the French civisme, in turn derived from the Latin word civis (which can be translated as “citizen”). The concept refers to a conduct that develops in accordance with the rules of coexistence that regulate social life. It can also be linked to respect for institutions and laws.
It is understood that civility implies not transgressing the guidelines that allow living peacefully in community. Citizenship, therefore, means respecting the rights of others and taking care of public spaces and the environment. If all the members of society acted with civility, there would be no violence, since conflicts would be resolved through dialogue and institutional action.
Suppose that a person needs to carry out works in his department (apartment). To avoid disturbing his neighbors, he starts work at 10 in the morning, interrupts them at noon and then takes them up between 16 and 18. In this way he does not make noises that could interfere with the rest of the other individuals. In addition, it is responsible for cleaning the dirt generated by the works, depositing the rubble and waste in the corresponding container. All these actions demonstrate the civility of the subject in question.
Other norms that are considered key to being able to behave with civility are the following:
-You must avoid speaking too loudly as well as yelling in public spaces such as hospitals or libraries.
-When someone is speaking to a person, they must listen to them and not interrupt their speech.
-Do not cough on other people.
-When traveling by public transport (subway, bus…) you must respect the seats that are reserved for the elderly, people with physical disabilities or pregnant women. In the event that all those who are of that type were occupied, what will have to be done is to get up and give them the seat.
-If you are going to go through a staircase or a very narrow section, the other person will be allowed to pass if it is an elderly person or someone who has some type of physical disability.
-Before entering the train car, in an office or store, you must allow those who are at the door to leave.
-Do not spit on the ground.
-In the same way, another basic norm of civility is that you do not go down the street without a shirt.
-The no-smoking signs must be respected in closed and public spaces as well as in means of transport.
-Another key rule of civility is not to urinate and not defecate in the street.
-If you travel by bicycle, you have to do it on the bike lane and not on the sidewalk, because that represents a real danger for citizens who move on foot.
Someone who does not respect traffic rules, throws papers in the street, listens to loud music at night and destroys the benches in a park for fun, on the other hand, is not respecting the rules of civility.
It is generally understood that civility starts from education: it is necessary to know what to respect and why. Whoever knows the rules of coexistence and understands that transgressing them causes harm, is likely to act with civility.
