I AM Modern Magazine for Moms

by Kasy Young

Once upon a time parents and grandparents taught children to be polite, to have good table manners and to be at ease in social situations. It was expected that children would behave in a civil manner at all times, especially when out in public. Parents were horrified when their “Little Darling” sassed an adult, was mean to another child or required discipline at school.

Then along came the 60’s & 70’s with the “be yourself” and “let it all hang out” attitudes. Decency, dignity and decorum went by the wayside leaving the next generations to “do their own thing” in the chaos of “no rules.” Time has shown that it is often not a good idea to “let it all hang out” and “doing your own thing” does not take one far in the business or social world. We have seen a decline in self-respect and work ethics. And respect for others is nearly non-existent. People in Loudoun County and other areas say to me that children today have no manners. The truth is that they never had manners only concerned adults to teach them manners. So what is the answer? What do we do?
Research shows that children are most receptive to etiquette training between the ages of 2 and 5 and that good manners are connected to good reading skills in the very young. Yet we spend these years instilling McManners……feeding them fast food in their carseats and parking them in front of the TV for hours under the pretense that all “children’s” programs are fine. Our hectic life_style_s give little time for etiquette training at home, even if we are lucky enough to know how to do so.

Recently the flutter of programs offered to teach manners to middle school children has reached Loudoun County. The children spend 1 or 2 hours a month with a franchisee/licensee attempting to learn a lifetime of manners in around 20 sessions over a period of 2-3 years. (Oh, the hours of free time our grandparents and great grandparents lost by not having these concise capsules.) What potential has been lost if we wait until 6th grade or later for this essential training? By not starting at an early age we are imposing “glass ceilings” on our children’s future. Think about it.

Kasy Young is the CEO of The Galaxy Corporation Etiquette & Protocol. You may email any etiquette related questions to her at \n This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . While she cannot reply to each one personally, we will address as many as possible in future articles.

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