Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Kids and Courtesy

I've been wondering what has happened that we seem to have stopped teaching children about courtesy and respect. I was thinking about this at a recent Kalamazoo Wings hockey game (go K Wings) at which I was sitting in my normal seat just off the goal line and up high ( I like to be able to see the whole surface) and it was Kidz Club day. There was a pretty large group of kids in the stands, many of them, I am very sure, not sitting in the seats that were specified by their tickets, which really doesn't mater as it wasn't a sold out house anyway. I digress, at one point in the game I told one kid to sit down. The shocked looks from some of the adults in the group ensued and I found myself having to explain that I had paid for a ticket to watch hockey, not watch this little kid stand in the aisle. The general rule of courtesy being that one waits until a stoppage of play to leave or return to one's seat.

Why are kids not being trained in basic courtesy? The damn kid was just standing there. How about fukkin sit down dammit? For that matter, what the hell happened to parents supervising their children in public?

Look people, it's this simple...What you teach a kid now sticks for life. You can teach by doing nothing, you teach them that they can do whatever they want without censure. If you teach them basic respect and manners young, they tend to stay well mannered and respectful. Funny how that works isn't it? Come on parents, start living up to being parents.

1 comment:

Norse said...

Hi Honey, we're so going to disagree here. It's a good thing. Patience is invaluable.