Respect is one attribute in our value system that should be inculcated in children from when they are young. In the following text, you will find out more about how respect is shown through good manners.

by Josh Trepanier

Can you remember a time when men held doors for women and elders, and took off their hats when they were inside? Do you recall the days when youngsters wouldn't dare talk back to their parents or grandparents out of sheer respect? People who do remember those instances must be appalled at the lack of manners in today's society. It's becoming increasingly difficult to find people who still use the simple words please and thank you on a daily basis. Even "polite policy" is no longer very polite. The general level of respect people have for other people has declined rapidly in the past few decades and it will continue to decrease until we teach ourselves and our children otherwise.

Who is to blame for the current decline in manners? The place where kids are most disrespectful is usually the place where they learn to be that way ― at home. Children are refusing to obey parents more and more every day. Eight years ago, I could have never worn my hat at the dinner table; my mom would have thrown a fit. Nowadays, youngsters sit down to supper with their hats on, while playing hand-held video games, and parents don't blink an eye. Some kids are even allowed to use profane language in front of their parents. Such casual attitudes about disrespect are at the root of the growing problem America is having with unmannered youth. If impoliteness around the household continues to go unnoticed, the rude children will someday turn into rude adults, continuing the current trend of disrespectfulness. Of course, the media have also contributed to the growing problem by portraying the rudeness of our youth in a comical light in many modern family sitcoms.