Social Epidemic of Bad Manners and Disrespect

It seems to me that children seldom have good manners or social graces, either in public, with strangers, or even with their friends. I am not talking about good behavior that most schools enforce, but rather respect for other people and how to better interact with other people too.

Most parents start teaching good manners to their children as soon as they are old enough to sit at the dinner table. At first, I was a firm believer that good manners must be taught at home, however apparently this has not been sufficient. For instance, I went to such a bad high school, that most students (including both good and bad students) behaved very poorly with fellow students and even teachers. I noticed that my fellow classmates would always be better behaved with good manners with their parents or when near their parents. It was extremely noticeable that children act better with people they respect or even fear.

Therefore, the only viable solution is that public schools must teach and enforce good manners and respect as well as good behavior. So, we must ask.. no.. we must demand that public schools start providing mandatory "charm school" or similar classes to teach respect for each other. A lot of private schools are already doing so; and in my opinion, those kids going to private school are noticeably better behaved, well mannered, more educated, and generally turn out to be better adults too.

Another problem that children have is poor socialization skills. Even in the most diverse schools, how children interact with each other is extremely poor. I noticed that typically girls communicate with each other more naturally but only among themselves; however they are just as rude and cruel as boys.

It appears that most children are never properly taught on speaking etiquette and social graces. For example, they talk at the same time, interrupt each other frequently, insult each other, etc. Again, it appears as they do not respect each other, therefore they do not give enough thought in communicating with elegance and care for whom they are talking with.

The only solution for children with this problem is debate or public speaking classes. The communication skills taught in these classes will definitely help children to succeed in their personal lives, in school, and their future careers.

If you don’t think your children need it, then go to your kids’ schools during school time and take note of how the other kids are treating and interacting with each other.