What Happened To Etiquette?

I completely agree with you - social manners are no longer a part of our society.

My personal favorite is when you are walking up or down a flight of stairs in a public area and a group of people take up the entire lenght of the stairway and expect you to move for them. This is the same for getting in or out of an elevator.....and it is not always the younger generation that do this!

Customer service levels all over the place have fallen short of where they should be - manners are no longer needed and being rude is the common place.

I could go on and on about this but will stop for now.

I am certified and I do take continuing education. I am also smart enough to look at what the facts are based on what I, my fellow teachers and other teachers and coaches I know see every day. Studies are easily manipulated, reality is not.

P.S.- I appreciate you talking down to me and treating me like an ass. I guess you are an excellent example of this thread.

reply to post by backwherewestarted

You seem to have a hair-trigger. Where did I treat you like an a**?
Since your original post didn't state whether you were certified or perhaps just a temp hire, I merely suggested that if you were NOT certified, you should consider taking such courses. Furthermore, most school systems do not present material that has not been thoroughly screened for applicability to the school's system. Furthermore, I have taught such presentations to school districts, and am very familiar with what is presented. I don't know of any reputable school district that does NOT consider environment, such as media, to be a factor in outcomes. To deny that goes against virtually every teacher's union in this country. In fact, it is one of the main reasons that teacher organizations have modified their methods of delivery, to include those very media that influence students.

It concerns me that you have this belligerent attitude and hair-trigger reaction. I worry that if you are so quick to fly off the handle over an innocent suggestion, how you would handle a student's question.

I agree with you entirely on everything except table manners! When I see my favorite meal in front of me I turn into a ravenous animal. I don't care what kind of fork or spoon I should be using and in fact I sometimes eat my steak with my hands! I feel that certain etiquettes have been taken too far in human history.

Too much etiquette can lead to snootiness.

Lack of manners and etiquette is a HUGE problem in society -- and it's getting worse.

Those who mentioned that the parents are at fault, you're right.
Those who blamed TV, you're right.
It's these two factors combined that have sent society down the drain. It's not cool to have manners. Angry kids use this as their only means of protesting against society. Simply refusing to adhere to "what's expected" is their brainless attempt at "going against the grain". It's quite pathetic. I believe it all went over the cliff when boys started wearing their pants below their ass. I still can't believe this is viewed as cool.

The demise of etiquette?

Why would I care about you when the world revolves around me?

I don't think it's actually any higher a percentage than it was when I was a kid, there's just more people and we're more connected or thrust together depending on your POV. I ride public transportation 5 days a week and there are days when I'm feeling like society has gone to hell but those are days when I'm crammed eyeball to eyeball with perfect strangers and thus more easily irritated or over sensitive. There's days when I happen to get unlucky with timing and am on the train with teenagers going to or from school and let's face it teenagers are horrible but again, they always have been.

Then there's days when I see plenty of etiquette and it renews my faith in society. I think it's largely based on perspective, if you're feeling negative you will notice the negative and vice versa. I advise that the next time you see some social atrocity you look in a different direction and maybe you'll see something nice happening.



For you OP, I hope you feel better soon.