When you’re at school you should always be on your best behavior. Not only should you respect your teachers, you should keep in mind that the way you treat them can reflect both negatively and positively on your future. Your teachers are giving you the stepping stones to becoming successful, and if you treat them poorly they may do less to help you succeed.
Having good behavior at school isn’t just being respectful to your teachers either, it’s being respectful to the students, and the school itself. If you’re disrespectful to other students, aka bullying, you can get in lots of trouble, which will reflect badly to the colleges you will get into or the opportunities you will have after high school. Bullying can be charged as a federal offense and not many schools will accept you if you have a misdemeanor like this on your transcript. Not being accepted into a good college may hinder you from getting a good job, not to mention that several jobs will now not accept you due to such charges. Cyber bullying as well is being worked on to be counted as a federal offense, so it is just better to always be respectful to your peers.
Be respectful to the school as well. This doesn’t just mean not sticking your gum underneath the desk, it also means no vandalizing. If you are found guilty of vandalizing public property, such as your school, you can get in major trouble and the police can be involved depending on how big the case is. This will once again reflect badly on you can affect you later in life.
If you are a good student and don’t think you have to worry about any of that, I would still be cautious. Often times when a good student has close relationship with their teachers, they assume all teachers will like them as much as their other teachers. Be careful with teachers you have never had before, something you may see as respectfully joking around with a teacher, a teacher who doesn’t know you may see as being disrespectful.
If you ever find yourself in a situation like this, it is in your best interest to talk to the teacher. Make sure they understand that you were just joking around, trying to help them, whatever your situation may be. Then talk with them. Explain that you are a good student and it was never your intention to be rude or disrespectful. A teacher will find it nice that you sat down with them a talked and may even see you in better light than before the incident because it shows responsibility and maturity.