Teaching Respect Manners 101

Every pediatrician has this conversation over and over with parents about setting limits and consistently praising good behavior.  What these conversations really are about is manners.   Dr. Perry Klass said, “When you are in an exam room with a child who seems to have none, you begin to wonder what is going on at home, at school and questions of family dysfunction problems begin to cross your mind.”

Practicing good manners has a huge impact on people’s lives despite the fact that some people think manners are out of date. Are they?

Having good manners is akin to showing respect.  Respecting yourself as well as others is one ingredient to becoming a successful human being.   Schools are the epicenter of the manners debate.  Students without manners are seen as rude and this contributes to behavior problems. But few schools have the time or resources to teach manners in addition to their academic benchmarks.  So what’s the answer?

Continuity of practice, practice makes perfect and when anything is repeated enough it eventually becomes part of a new habit.   Schools can teach students good manners first by practicing good manners.  Manners are our public behavior and the first lesson is that there are other people whose feelings must be considered.  Learning this affects a child’s most basic moral development.

Schools can teach manners 101 every day by:

• Address a manners issue every morning as part of their daily messages
• Simple examples are reminders to students to use polite language, practice right of way when walking (road rules for your hallways), and examples of kindness

• Classroom teachers should display manners rules in the classroom and begin the day with reminders to practice. Teachers also demonstrate good manners when they maintain composure under pressure.

• Reward and recognize students who practice good manners. 

• Help students learn good table manners by periodically eating lunch with your students.  Give helpful reminders to students about how to eat properly.

Students who are loud, demanding and insistent show that no one has taken the time to teach them manners; their basic needs are not being met.  Remember children by definition are selfish.  It’s a parent’s job to teach them there are other people in the world and other people have feelings.  Unfortunately when parents fail schools are left to pick up the slack and civilize the behavior of children. 

Creative World Connection is dedicated to helping schools provide comprehensive character education for their students.  Any school that is seeking a dedicated program that is consistent, timely and successful can contact us to purchase material tailored to their school’s needs.   The advantage of being a CWC subscriber is that we are flexible in content and pricing.  Contact us today and mention this blog entry for special pricing on Series 1 and also on custom programs.