WHY SPEND TIME ON MANNERS?
During the course of the year I am asked, "why spend time on teaching manners? After all it's really a matter that families need to sort out for themselves." I respond by talking about the development of a student's character, more specifically their character education, and how this is a process that has life long ramifications. Not to mention that the subject of manners continues to be a hot topic in schools across the nation. In public education, manners receive barely a glance, and generally speaking more often than not is related to a students negative behavior. With the ever increasing demands placed on accountability, teaching time, and grade level content, while topics such as manners or etiquette are treated more as an expectation rather than a standard for daily use. The teaching and practice of good manners requires a keen focus on the life long process of interacting with ones peers, family members, and society as a whole. The interpersonal skills that are learned, encouraged, and practiced daily become the very foundation for our young learners and tomorrow's leaders. Most students are no strangers to the mantra that, "practice makes perfect," and are generally encouraged to make good choices with respect to their time and energy. It becomes evident that making good use of proper etiquette or manners is critical to good mental health and life long success.
In "Teaching Children Manners" -from the Better Homes and Gardens Guide to Parenting-, psychologist John Rosemond declares that manners and respect are inseparable. Believing children can never learn to respect themselves unless they learn respect for others beginning with adults, he suggests the following:
- Work on one skill at a time.
- Give immediate positive feedback for manners success.
- Be tolerant of children's mistakes, but do not overlook them.
- Set a good example--remember, manners are not a one-way street.
- Stress to children the importance of treating others the same way they like to be treated.
- Help children understand the harm caused by thoughtless, unkind words and actions.
- Role-play difficult situations for children in order to demonstrate appropriate responses.
- Establish a politeness policy for basic manners.
- Teach children the importance of thinking of others; write thank-you notes.
Each year student's are being held to increasingly higher academic standards. As expectations and demands increase so too stress and tension, and with these also comes the occasional mistakes or, "bumps in the road." We teach our student's that making mistakes is part of the learning curve, and how to stop and correct our mistakes. Our behavior is often a reflection of the choices we make to cope with these experiences effectively. All of a student's daily experiences can help to develop their character, integrity, knowledge and interpersonal skills. Encouraging students to practice their skills on a daily basis is essential to developing a well rounded individual, both now and as future leaders. The following check-list offers some focus points/tips for our young learners while at school:
- Being punctual
- Obeying the school rules
- Paying attention to the teachers
- Being respectful to the teachers and staff
- Not answering back
- Telling the truth-always-It takes real courage to tell the truth.
- Respecting everyone’s rights
- Not littering the school grounds
- Don’t bully...prevent bullying...report bullying today!
