Manners: What Has Happened to Them?

You know when I was growing up, the children were expected to say things like ...excuse me, please, thank you, you're welcome, yes and no ma'am, and yes/no sir. But it doesn't seem to be a value that parents teach these days. I was in the store the other day and a child that couldn't be any more then 5 was cursing like a sailor. His mom just looked at him and said, (Her exact words) "Now you know mommy doesn't like it when you talk that way in public" IN PUBLIC! The fact that he was cursing didn't bother her. I began watching them and listening to how the child was talking, and every time he replied to her it was "yea" or "naw" and then she tells him I going to tell your dad. He replies to her "Oh well do what ever you want". I was so mad at HER for not teaching her child any better than that.

Why did parents stop teaching simple manners and family values? If I was to pull anything close to what this little boy did, I wouldn't have been able to sit down for a month. We still teach our children respect & manners, as we feel that it is one the most important things a parent can teach to their children. I used to say it was just kids from big cities that weren't taught manners, but this child is from my hometown where we have less than 10,000 people. I know in today's fast paced world, parents tend to over look some of the basic teachings that we were taught as children, but this is one that I believe should be brought back. In my experiences and observations, children that are bullies also have no manners and little to no respect for others. The lack of teaching manners, and in retrospect the lack of teaching respect to your children can lead to school ground bullies, disrespectful children, and over bearing adults. Manners are used in most every aspect of life, regardless whether you're a child that is on a school playground or an adult that is on a job interview. If we as parents, don't teach our children manners when they are young, we only have ourselves to blame when they up to be a bully or even worst. Parents, manners are the building blocks of a civilized society. And without those blocks in place, a civilized society cannot exist.