“Thank you;” “please” words which no longer come as fluently from mouths, especially in the younger generation, as they once did. Manners on the whole have become like diamonds or precious jewels: they are rare to have and also worth so much.
I am not too mature in age but even when I was young manners were on top of the agenda in family, in school and in every day life. You would always hear people say “please” or “thank you.” People would stand up to shake hands, hold doors open, help someone with heavy bags if they needed to. There was as much disrespect towards authority: teachers, parents, elderly or police, as there is now.

Why? What has caused this degeneration in something which was, and I believe still is, an admiral quality to have?
People would argue that the younger generation are merely a product of the old. So has there been something that the previous generation did wrong that generations before did not do? There is possibility for this, however I believe the blame can not be placed in one particular area.

Yes it has to be true that it is possible that between the last generation and this new one which is emerging emphasis on manners has maybe not been top priority. I believe that even though it is not in it’s entirety wrong, parents are becoming more and more like their children’s friends rather than setting themselves apart as an authority figure. Because of this children do not have as a strong perception of parents as an authority figure as previous generations have had, children do not fear and respect their parents in the same way. As a direct result children talk to their parents as the would their peers which will not be in the most respectful tone. That then infiltrates into the other areas of interaction children have with people around them. They see that at home it is alright to speak to their parents the way they do because their parents permit it so they perceive it to be alright in all areas of interaction.

I do agree that children do need their parents to be friend-like in the sense that they need to be approachable for their children to feel at ease talking to them. However the balance between being friend and an authoritative figure is out of balance and I believe that needs to be addressed.

There has been a constant and steady rise in children being more rebellious. You can see this in the rise in teenage pregnancy, teens doing drugs and drinking. Everything in society shows a generation who just like to go against authority. Today people do not like being told how to do things, especially young people. They rebel as a statement of non conforming and therefore they can become ignorant and disrespectful, the fruits of which are a lack of manners. They see manners as conforming and therefore dismiss them. The fact is manners are a desired quality in lots of avenues of life and are highly sought after. Just because you display manners does mean that you are conforming. It just means you are doing what is respectful.

And essentially that is what manners are, showing due respect towards people in our speech and actions. And there is an increasing lack of it in some home situations, school and in society in general.

I believe we need to address this situation. People need to learn to be respectful. That starts firstly in the home. Once the battle is won there, where parents assert authority more and they are perceived more as a parent than a buddy or a pal, then will the due respect they will receive as a result gradually infiltrate back into society. Then respect, with the fruit of manners will be restored