Teaching Manners & Common Courtesy
A common courtesy minor event caught me by surprise. My 9-year-old son, Aaron, rushed through the door of our local Community Center ahead of me. One of our good friends called out as she exited carrying an arm-full of packages, “Please hold the door open.”
To my chagrin, he yelled out, “I can’t!” and kept running to the playground. It hurts a little to see how selfish and rude our own children can be at times.
Proverbs 27:10 says, “Never abandon a friend–either yours or your father’s. Then you won’t need to go to a distant relative for help in your time of need.”
Parenting Wake-Up Call
At that moment, it hit me. I had not done a good job of teaching Aaron respect for my friend. Kids have to learn how to treat adults. They will either learn from us or those at school whom they deem worth copying.
As I walked from the Community Center, I developed a strategy to help Aaron catch-up on some social manners I neglected to teach him very well.
Common Courtesy Helps
First, I determined to not let any future mistake go unchallenged. Every time he did the wrong thing, I’d find a private time to to carefully
explain his mistake.
Second, I’d teach manners and common courtesy by repetition and reason. I began to look for teaching examples, followed by explaining why we should treat others this better way.
Third, I’d give a more drastic example of the traits I wanted to see in him. I looked for extra opportunities myself to give aid to others when around Aaron.
Did it help?
Well, it might take years to determine the final verdict. But there was progress. At a crowded shopping center, I waited for Aaron five minutes. He held the door open for every woman going into a department store. Watching him having fun being courteous, I wasn’t about to stop him.
Stephen Bly
Copyright©1989
Man Helping Elderly Woman Image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay
Generations Image by Please Don’t sell My Artwork AS IS from Pixabay
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