Published in the May 25 – June 7, 2016 issue of Morgan Hill Life

By Charlie DeLisle

Charlie DeLisle

Charlie DeLisle

Neighbors are part of our daily lives. They are part of the process of socialization and interacting with other people. In our lives, we are always trying to look for a good area to live, a nice house, a great neighborhood and some good neighbors. In my opinion, a good neighbor should be respectful, friendly and helpful.

The first quality that a good neighbor should have is to be respectful. Respect is the most important aspect of being a good neighbor. Neighbors should respect your space and privacy in order to live in a peaceful environment. In addition, they should maintain a quiet environment not allowing loud music or noise that will bother others. Respect to one another is one of the most important qualities that a neighbor should have in order to live in harmony.

On the other hand, without having respectful neighbors, people will have a difficult and miserable time.

Another quality of good neighbors is that they should be friendly.

The way to be friendly is showing that they care about you, and they should welcome you to their neighborhood. Neighbors are those people we meet every day when we go in and out of our houses.

A nice and big smile on their faces, or a simple “hello” as a warm greeting on the way, may bring us a joyful mood for a start of a day. Nice neighbors will provide us a very comfortable living environment through their love and friendship.

Being able to help you out when you can is also considered as a great trait of a good neighbor. There are a great number of difficulties and troubling situations that we have to deal with in our lives. When those particular moments come, the first person come into our mind is often our best friends or one of our relatives.

However, most of the time, they can’t be the people we rely on in those moments. We will soon realize they are either too far away or they are unavailable.

Charlie DeLisle, 13, is a seventh-grader at St. Catherine’s School in Morgan Hill and a member of the Youth Action Council. Her hobbies include reading and writing. She wrote this column for Morgan Hill Life.