Good Manners

What are good manners?

Courtesy, politeness or having good manners are all about respecting others and yourself.

Good manners are about considering the feelings of other people, and being the kind of person that others will like and respect. In the ‘olden days’ children were taught about the Golden Rule – “Always do to others as you would wish them to do to you if you were in their place.”

This is still a good way to behave nowadays. If you are respectful to others, then you are more likely to be treated with respect by them. If you show good manners everywhere you go, then you are more likely to encourage others to behave in the same way towards you.

Look at the following of good manners.

What good manners look like at home?

On the phone:

If you have to answer the home phone, there are important things to remember:

1. Say your telephone number and who you are, e.g. ‘Jane speaking.’
2. Never say, “Mom/Dad, or any other adult you live with, is out”.

Say “—– can’t come to the phone right now – may I take a message?”

You don’t know whether the person on the other end of the phone is a would-be robber, so you need to keep yourself safe.

3. Don’t give out any other information. The caller doesn’t need to know if mom is in the kitchen or whatever!
4. Always write down messages including phone numbers and organise with your family where the messages are to be put, e.g. by the phone or on the fridge.
5. The person who gets the message can choose whether or not to phone back, but it is good manners to let them know that they have a message anyway.

Manners at school:

Manners At the table:

Manners when you are out:

Interesting facts:

• Shaking hands upon greeting was originally adopted several centuries ago in England as a means of establishing that neither party was armed.
• Removing or tipping one’s hat as a sign of respect has a similar origin to that of shaking hands.
• The right side is the honorary side on which a woman or other person deserving of respect should be allowed to walk.

Having good manners makes you a pleasant person to be around.

Manners

Manners! Manners! Don’t be rude be nice
Manners will make your brain think twice!
Chew with your mouth closed
Cover when you sneeze.
Use your manners
Around other people please.
In the shops, even at the beach
Use them and people will think you’re a peach.
If it’s sunny or raining
In the shops or at dinner
Use your manners
And you’ll be a winner!