11 OLD FASHIONED MANNERS WE NEED TO START TEACHING OUR CHILDREN
There is a lot of “woke culture’ going on in today’s world where the important values, ethos, manners and etiquette that was ingrained in us as little Children has now been seen as outdated or old fashioned.
So many young people are now tilting towards behaviours that are trendy rather than appropriate. In today’s world, nudity is now seen as self acceptance and confidence, fraud and dishonesty is seen as smart or ‘street wise’, being rude is seen as being daring, outspoken, or opinionated.
Trust me, we have a menace at hand… as Parents, Educators and Caregivers…let’s embrace the contemporary times with all the amazing technology and innovations that has come with it.
Let us not loose the basics of our social interaction which are these ‘manners that I will be sharing with you.
1. TEACH THEM TO BE POLITE: Teach your Child that being polite is a way of life, it is not something they should do periodically. Being rude is a huge turn off, they should know how to address elders, respond to questions, use the right body language, be respectful, be kind, be empathetic and so on.
2. TEACH THEM TO USE THEIR MAGIC WORDS: ‘thank you, please, excuse, sorry ,may I?”
It might seem casual but if your Child learns this, they can warm their way to any body’s heart.
Note: These magic words are small but very expedient.
3. TEACH THEM TO GREET: The greeting culture is becoming obsolete today. Do you know that greeting isn’t just a way of according respect to older people it is the first step in raising a socially intelligent child.
Teach them the right time to greet, the right gestures, body language and so on.
4.TEACH THEM TO KNOCK: When last did you see your Child knock before entering. When Children learn to knock, they protect themselves from what they should not be exposed to and also respect other peoples privacy.
5. Teach them the right way to interrupt other people’s conversation. I have seen this happen too many times, teach your Child that when they need to interrupt a conversation they should say “excuse me” and that if what they have to say is not urgent or important they should wait for a while
6.Teach them to use the right Voice tone. Have you heard teenagers have conversations lately? It is a competition of who can speak loudest. Children need to be taught to vary their voice tones to match their environment.
7. Teach them to put down distractions when being talked to: Have you ever talked to anyone and you can literally tell that they are distracted either with their phones or something else, how did that make you feel?
This manner is a need of the hour, Children need to be taught the ethics of conversations.
With addiction to screen and all, we need to help them balance it.
8. Teach them to say excuse me when trying to get someone’s attention.
9.Teach them when and how to air their opinion about someone and something.
10. Teach them phone call etiquettes
11. Teach them Table Manners ( This goes beyond the conventional “don’t talk while eating) Learn if you need to.
With the hustle and bustle of life, it can be very easy to ignore these basic manners in the guise that they will learn it some day, but you need to remember that Parenting is synonymous to teaching…if you don’t teach it, they won’t learn it.
To teach my pupils these skills, I had to introduce something I called” Etiquette drills” so weekly we had manners, that the children could learn and master and it has been quite impactful, you can use this strategy in your home.
Another strategy you can use is ROLE PLAYING, after teaching simulate a real life experience where they can practice and master these mannners.
Beyond education and caring for your Child’s needs, these little little skills also come in very handy in raising the phenomenal Child that you seek to raise.
It’s has been discovered that social and emotional intelligence plays a greater role in your Child’s overall success than education alone.
Are there more manners that should be added to this list? If yes, Please share with us.
Are there manners off this list that you would like to integrate in your home? If yes…Please let us know!
Finally… Do you have any questions? If yes…please ask!