Dignity. Isn't that what everybody really wants? You, me, your parents, your children, your friends, your colleagues at work: All of us want to be treated with dignity. The homeless person in the park; the elderly in nursing homes; students, teachers, principals; Christians, Jews, Muslims; taxi drivers, store clerks, waiters, police officers; prisoners and guards; immigrants; doctors, patients, nurses; the poor, the wealthy, the middle class; big nations, small nations, people without a homeland. Dignity. Everybody wants it, craves it, seeks it. People's whole lives change when they're treated with dignity and when they're not. Evan Ramsey, now serving a 210-year prison sentence for shooting and killing his high school principal and another student in Bethel, Alaska, told criminologist Susan Magestro: ''I was picked on seven hours a day every day and the teachers didn't do anything to help me ... I told [my foster mother] and [my principal] more than a dozen times about all the bullying I was subjected to. They never did anything to help me.... If I can prevent someone from having the experience I went through, I want to do that. I killed people.... Don't respond with violence even if you're provoked. There's no hope for me now but there is hope for you.'' - From ''The Realities and Issues Facing Juveniles and Their Families, The Warning Signs: Evan Ramsey Bethel, Alaska,'' by Susan Magestro, ....Fundamentally, dignity is about respect and value. It means treating yourself and others with respect just because you're alive on the planet. It's recognizing that you and everyone else have a right to be here, and that you belong. It means valuing your own and others' presence and special qualities. It means honoring who you are and what you have to offer.