Who else remembers being told by their parents, "Use your manners"? I am curious to know if that phrase is still in use today. A lot has changed in a short amount of time. Manners seems to be one of the things that are dropping off. I'm not certain as to why. One theory I would propose is the use of cell phones. People these days have grown accustomed to the short hand, get to the point, text message. Gone are the long form messages, emails, and perhaps even conversations.
Maybe our ability to socialize fully has been infected with the desire to scroll. Next time you are in a restaurant have a look around at the people that are there enjoying each others company. Or are they really? I am betting that you see in one scan of the room several people with phone in hand, or down by their side with head bowed and eyes focused on the screen below. It's hard to imagine that anyone can give their attention to the screen and engage in any form of true communication with another party. It's lack of manners.
Perhaps all of that stimuli from screens, and the constant barrage of information and misinformation has also made people a little less patient, and a little less cognizant of their behaviour? Ask a teacher who is close to retirement what has changed over the last 25 - 30 years in the behaviour of our youth in general? Do they still use the same manners that were pounded into heads? Has the Tic Tok world become their influencers over parents, coaches, and teachers? The cell phone in this way has had a bit of a Peter Pan effect. This is how we do it where I live! I would wager that many parents of today would be shocked at how little junior is acting in school these days. I am not saying this didn't happen in the past, but it was to a much lesser degree; and kids and parents both were held accountable for it.
As a coach, I have heard it first hand from kids talking to their own parents in a tone that would have had my head rotated 720 degrees very quickly by my parents. Outright cursing at their own parents, demanding this and that. I of course was shocked the first time and was prepared to call the funeral home for the first one, but nothing. There was nothing. The kid got what he wanted, the parent complained about kids these days to the other parents and the vicious cycle repeated itself. It happens more and more.
Bart Simpson was taken off the air for awhile when I was a kid because of the arrogance and rudeness he apparently portrayed by saying "Don't have a cow man". Where along the way has today's behaviour become acceptable? Why is it ok now for someone to tell off a senior citizen? Little by little, the wholesome behaviour that was strived for seems to be disappearing. What's acceptable now is at an all time low as a standard. I feel we are better than that. We have a responsibility to leave this earth in capable hands, as much as we have a responsibility to keep it clean to live in. This is a leadership problem at the lowest level. The adult is the person in charge. The adult pays the bills and enables and accepts the standard level of behaviour in their household. The adult in each individual household wields the power to help steer the world we live in for good. It can be as simple as demanding that manners will be used. Be kind. Be thoughtful. Be respectful of people. Who wouldn't want a neighbour like that?