9 Etiquette Lessons Every Child Should Learn This Year

In a world filled with people who often seem to have forgotten common courtesy and social graces (read any Facebook comments lately?), it’s more important than ever to instill the importance of etiquette and good manners in the next generation of Southerners. Once they're a bit older, you can school them in how to properly respond to a wedding invitation or how to host a baby shower, but for the time being, here are the nine etiquette lessons every child should learn this year: From properly introducing themselves to extending a helping hand to those around them, these are skills that'll stick with them forever.

How To Introduce Themselves

You only get to make one first impression, and how you introduce yourself often determines the kind of impression you make. This lesson is essential as it’s a three-for-one learning opportunity: Showing children how to properly introduce themselves teaches them first, to share their first and last names with their new acquaintances; second, to look that person directly in the eye when speaking to them; and third, how to give a good handshake (a firm, but gentle squeeze is the name of the game). 

How To Be Inclusive

Children should be taught to treat their peers with kindness, as well as extend friendship to those who may be feeling left out or are shy. If other kids are eating alone, children should invite them to sit with them; or if there’s a new student in school, they should be quick to introduce themselves.

How To Wait Patiently

Patience is a tough virtue for anyone to learn, but it can be especially tricky for children, who don’t always understand the nuances of why something is taking a long time. Until they’re old enough to digest those, teach them the basics: don’t force your way to the front of line, wait your turn, and never throw a tantrum when the wait is longer than you’d anticipated (one trip to the airport, and it’s clear some adults could use a refresher on this one).

How To Graciously Receive Gifts

It’s no secret that young children don’t have much of a filter, but it’s important to teach them to accept presents—even the ones they don’t like—with a “thank you” and a smile. Teach them well, and it’ll save you from serious embarrassment when they unwrap birthday socks from dear Aunt Linda for the third year in the row. Once your children are old enough to write, buy them some stationery and teach them the art of the handwritten thank you note (short and sweet does the trick). 

How To Accept Compliments

Here’s a lesson we adults could also stand to learn. It’s tempting to shrug off a compliment with a self-deprecating joke, a throwaway compliment volleyed in return, or an “Oh, hush!” But a sincere compliment should be accepted with a simple, “Thank you. That’s so kind of you to say” or similar. Children who know how to politely accept compliments grow up to be adults who know how to politely accept compliments—win-win.

How To Use Proper Table Manners 

Whether eating at home, a restaurant, or their grandmother’s house, children should know the basics of dining etiquette and table manners. No, they don’t need to know the difference between a dinner fork and a salad fork at the tender age of five, but they should know how to politely ask for someone to fill their plates or share the dinner rolls. (After all, while we love To Kill a Mockingbird’s spunky Scout, asking someone to “pass the damn ham, please” just won’t do.) Children should also learn to keep their napkins in their laps, their elbows off the table, and their mouths closed while they chew. 

How To Give People Personal Space

While (and perhaps, because) Southerners often demonstrate warmth through physical touch, like a hug, it’s important to instill in children the importance of personal space—both theirs and that of others. Not everyone is comfortable with a hug as a greeting, nor do most people enjoy conversing with a close-talker. 

How To Behave Online

Given the inevitable presence of technology and devices in kids’ lives, it’s important to remind them that their words and actions on the Internet are just as powerful online (if not moreso) as they are in real life. They should never write, say, or share anything there that they wouldn’t do or say in person. (And it should go without saying that children’s Internet use should be closely monitored for their own safety and protection.)

How To Show Respect to Others

Etiquette and good manners are all rooted in the most important lesson children should learn: how to treat people with respect. Everyone, be it the cashier at Piggly Wiggly, the teacher, or the preacher, deserves to be shown kindness and respect, whether that’s through saying “yes sir” and “no ma’am,” offering a smile, or holding the door. 

Of course, at the end of the day, children will be children, and sometimes, when things go awry, all you can do is show your little ones—and other parents with misbehaving children—grace and patience. That, too, is good manners!