Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Mind Your Manners?


I was taught to say please and thank you
I was taught to be respectful of adults
I was taught to hold the door for the person behind you
I was taught to say excuse me
I was taught to stay to the right on a staircase so others could pass
I was taught give someone a helping hand if needed

I was taught to pick up after myself
I was taught to say I’m sorry
I was taught to put others first

Regretfully I do not see, nor have I seen, these qualities in my
students for years, despite my best efforts to teach them.

Am I just a relic and need to let go of it…
or should I keep on trying?

How much time do YOU spend teaching your students manners?

Quote of the day:  Life be not short but that there is always time for courtesy.          ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

5 comments:

  1. I was taught the same way and taught my children those same manners and my daughter is teaching these manners to her children. But somewhere along the way, those teachings have been lost by so many. I don't understand how things have changed so much over the years. Please don't give up. These children need to learn manners some place, and they surely are not getting it at home.

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  2. Manners are few and far between. Some of my children's first words when they were little were please and thank you. They still are just as polite. I always make a big deal out of the kids that remember their manners at school.

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  3. Let's not doom a whole generation because if the actions of few... I have small children who are taught manners and respect is expected, I expect the same of my students, and most of all I model politeness each and every day.

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  4. Don't let go, keep trying. Not all manners are lost. Some teaching lasts.

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  5. I was taught (or picked up?) the same manners you describe above. However, I don't think they're lost because I do see kids, of all ages, doing these same things. Of course, not everybody is polite and courteous. We need to show everyone (not just kids) what this means by our actions and stress why these behaviors are important in a civil society.

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