How should we teach our children good manners?
Guest editor (and Yale soccer coach) Brian Tomkins raised this issue in the Glenwood episode, having witnessed ill mannered kids taking more than one hot dog in a long line at a camp lunch this summer.
The simple answer, of course, is for parents to model considerate behavior themselves: but based on the seemingly “epidemic” nature of this problem, we’re obviously falling short.
How can we, as parents, reverse the trend?
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This is an issue close to my heart. My children, ages 12 and 15 years old, have been raised with good manners and even though they are older I ALWAYS remind them to “Mind their Ps & Qs.” I think that many times parents don’t want to believe that it is their children who are misbehaving, being rude or disrespectful. I work with many children and I cannot begin to tell you how many times I have heard “I have never heard that about my child!” Please! I would need only to hear it once and I would be discussing the issue with my children. I expect my children to be respectful just as I expect any children under my charge to be respectful.
There is all sorts of advice on the internet. Good manners are learned. As a parent I have to ask myself, “What sort of example am I setting?” “Am I consistent in my approach with my children?” Are my children consistently polite? The answer is more often than not…at least when I’m around.
I searched for Rude Children on the internet. Here’s a sampling of what I found:
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/3966895/ns/today-parenting_and_family/t/got-obnoxious-offspring-it-could-be-your-fault/
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/12/a-pediatricians-view-of-rude-children/
http://www.parentguidenews.com/Catalog/Parenting/BanishingRudeness
The second link describes a child with autism. Depending on where the child is on the autism spectrum, they can be taught social skills.