In the last couple of years the rudeness of Americans has increased dramatically. It especially seems that the children of America have become ruder. This leads one to wonder if America will just become even ruder or will the manners of the American people improve.
Each day at school encountering rudeness is common especially from students but also from the faculty. Walking through the busy hallways of the school is where encountering rudeness is the most likely to occur and probably will. While walking through the busy hallways on my way from the lunchroom keeping a good look out ahead for the blockade of kids that tend to stop right in the middle of the hall to socialize slowing down the flow of the student body is a good idea so I will have less of a hassle in getting around them. Maybe just one of these times the kids will get it through their heads and move to one side or the other to keep the flow of students steady. Yet this does not happen and this will continue on a regular basis during the school day.
Will Americas parents ever teach their kids some manners or will the rudeness continue into the next generations. Although there are parents that instill good manners in their children there are also not enough who do so. The children might get the bad manners from viewing how their parents behave with other adults. Encountering adults on a daily basis I noticed that adults can be just as rude as the children can be. Standing outside a shop looking through a store window there was a women walking and talking on her cell phone and she walked right into me. Not even turning around she kept on walking and just gave me a nasty look.
Apparently many American have been infected with the rudeness virus. Some might get it from the stressful and hectic life style they live or maybe the adult was just raised in an environment where manners didn’t matter.
I don't feel that some people lack manners; to me its the different backgrounds that define what manners are to
Manners have always been very important to Southerners. We must respect our elders and say yes ma’am and no ma’am. Saying please and thank you are also extremely important. A child being disrespectful was not tolerated, at least not in the home where I was raised. Most of the childhood friends I had growing up were raised the same way. Everyone was expe...
Racism (n): the prejudice that members of one race are intrinsically superior to members of other race (Wordnet search, 1), a controversial topic in today’s society, a subject that many people try to sweep under the rug, but yet a detrimental problem that has been present in America since the colonial era. Will this dilemma come to a halt? Can all Americans see each other as equals despite their skin color and nationality; and what role has it played in past generations versus today’s generations and how will it affect our future? Has this on going way of thinking gotten better or worse? These are questions raised when many think about the subject; especially members of American ethnic groups and backgrounds, because most have dealt with racial discrimination in their life time.
I have been in this country for almost three months now. One of the biggest challenges is getting along peacefully with the native population. To Americans one of the most important things is to make sure that no one gets insulted or hurt and that everyone is heard. Some would go to the extent of not revealing their true opinion, in order to avoid confrontation. In some group discussion decisions, if reached at all, are made after making long, tedious conversation about the topic at hand. While there are some merits to this kind of behavior, other aspects of interpersonal aspects are lost, such as frankness and being open to one another. Sitting among other international students enhances these observations by listening to the so-called “outsiders” talk amongst themselves. On one occasion a fellow student tried to explain something to his friend from another foreign country that he had different opinions from him on a certain subject, talking and describing the matter and “beating around the bush” as they say, when all of a sudden the listener said,” Just say what you think – don’t be an American.” I was amazed that someone noticed or thought the same way I did.
According to the ABC News survey, 73 percent of Americans feel manners are worse today than they were 20 or 30 years ago. Although character education is a hot topic in schools across the nation, education in maners often receives scant attention; with growing demands on teaching time, etiquette is rarely a priority. It might be a mistake to ignore the adage that actions speak louder than words, however. Teachers who teach manners said they notice a real difference in students' attitudes, in the way they treat one another, and in their schoolwork. Although some might say that manners are to be taught from the parents, the places children learn to socialize are not only at home, but also at school; it is their second home. A child either learns different moral values from his home or from his school. These days with both of the parents working, a child rarely gets the opportunity to learn moral and social values from home. In the past, although the parents were working, grandparents took care of their grandchildren and taught them important lessons of life, however, this is no longer prevalent as more and more families get unconcerned of teaching manners to young people. Of course not all the parents are failing to teach manners, but it is surprising to see many adults who do not know the correct ways of being respectful. Then how are they to educate their children? Thus, the only way we can ensure our future generation to learn etiquette is by schools.
Racism has taken on many forms in America over the past several hundred years. The most substantial or well known is the plight of the African American slaves and the injustices they suffered. Today, a new form of racism is developing; one that has always been around but has now entered the forefront of most Americans minds. This new racism is against members of the Middle Eastern culture and religion. The actions of September 11th did not create a new problem, they just shed light on a problem that we have had for some time. Racism is everywhere in one form or another. To understand it, I think it is necessary to look at the history, causes, and ways to resolve it.
Racism is defined by dictionary.com as '1. A belief or doctrine that inherent differences between the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one's own race is superior and has the right to rule others. 2. a policy, system of government, etc., based on or fostering such a doctrine; discrimination. 3. hatred or intolerance of another race or other races.' The first is most appropriate to use for my purposes, as it most general, and defines what i ill be analyzing. The basic problem of racism starts with the idea that there is something different between different races. Though it is an irrational thought, it is a very common one, that can seem unavoidable. We are all taught that we were all created equal, so the idea that one group is inferior to another goes against something that many people stress, and is an important point in many religions. For the most part, humans like the idea of being equal to everyone else. So why do we discriminate against people of different ethnic backgrounds?
Black youths arrested for drug possession are 48 times more likely to wind up in prison than white youths arrested for the same crime under the same circumstances. Many people are unaware how constant racism has been throughout the years. It is important to understand the problems of racism because it is relevant to society. Racism in America is very real and Americans need to know it.
One way the individual faces such rudeness is on the Internet. Many people are much more willing to abandon their obligation to be polite when sitting behind their computer, especially when the website includes the user’s anonymity (Clay). One study shows that individuals who frequent websites in order to argue, rant, or vent actually tend to “score higher on anger measures, express their anger more maladaptively and experience such negative consequences as verbal and physical fights more frequently than others” (Clay). Although this statistic may be true, correlation cannot be used to find causation. It very well may be that people who already have anger problems might be the ones frequenting these websites, and their anger problem is the reason they are frequenting the websites instead of the websites causing the anger problem.
Culture shock occurs because most Japanese cannot easily escape from the formula "politeness= indirectness." Compared to the American way of speaking, Japanese speak much more indirectly. Directness is considered a form of impoliteness in Japan. Therefore, when we want to be polite, we speak and act very indirectly. For example, we seldom say, "I'll go to a bathroom," except when we are with close friends. Usually, we say, "I'll go wash my hands." Especially when we are at the table or with an important person, we say only, "Excuse me. I'll be back in a minute" because we do not want to remind other people of the bathroom, which is considered a dirty place, even though it is actually clean. Also, other Japanese can infer that we are going to a bathroom from this phrase. But Americans cannot. They ask where we are going since they have no idea what we are going to do: make a phone call? buy something? Yet, in this case, these questions make Japanese frustrated, wondering why these Americans do not understand our polite expression.
As a child growing up, I was taught to be well mannered at home and everywhere I go. I was taught to say please and thank you, yes ma’am, and to hold the door open for individuals. In todays society, more and more people are forgetting their manners and are becoming offensively impolite. Whenever I go to a store to shop or even just to go out in public to burn some time, I never forget to take my manners with me. As I'm out and about, I've noticed the rudeness of individuals and some take
It appears to be one of the many features I first experienced while growing up. Coming from a Spanish-speaking Mexican family, respect is one of the most important traits I was taught. In my household, it was especially important to know what specific actions I could perform in front of my parents, Florencia and Francisco. Of course, there was the typical no talking back nor rolling of the eyes at them but a big factor was language. Specifically, in Spanish, there are two different forms in which l could speak to someone. These two forms are the formal, typically used with someone who is older, and informal, used with someone who is younger. As the name of the forms implied one was used when we wanted to be more formal and the other used at any other point. Growing up, this played a big factor when speaking to aunts, uncles, strangers, teachers, and most importantly parents. Undeniably, my siblings, Laura and Daniel, and I were taught to only use the formal with that group of people as a sign of respect. Later in life, I realized that because my parents raised me that way I had specific standards on how I want younger children to treat me. For example, my niece and nephews, Abigail, Carlos, and Esteban, were all raised like me and know that when speaking to that same group of people, they have to use the formal form. Today, I am an overall respectful person towards everyone I interact with no matter what the
The last and most important rule is to be polite. My favorite example is reciting the Golden Rule to them. The Golden Rule is to “Treat others the way you want to be treated”. Inside of the classroom, each student is responsible for respecting themselves, their peers, and the teacher. All body parts, such as hands and feet, should be kept to themselves. Respect also goes as far as respecting school property. That means students should not damage or vandalize the items that the school provided in the
Do manners matter? Yes, they do; however, since most parents have gone to work, children have fewer chances to sit with their parents and to learn manners from them. Although America is a melting-pot of cultures with various ideas of manners (Packer 22), and the subject of manners is complicated (Hall 185), the standard of good manners of various cultures is similar. Good manners are the same as civilized behaviors and moral etiquette that have respect, consideration, generosity, and thoughtfulness for others (Stewart 14). What goes around comes around; therefore, people should treat others as they wish to be treated themselves (Stewart 1). In fact, people would love to be with others who have good manners (Brandenberg 2). Therefore, manners should be taught in the twenty-first century because they not only help people become educated and competitive, but they also help the world become peaceful and smooth.
These customs must be a part of who every person is. This should be, not only because it is polite or correct, but because we are humans we have feelings, we have a dignity that deserves respect despite anything—respect. Learning manners at home helps an individual have a stronger foundation on what is correct to do based on respect and discipline that apply to social manners that contribute to the social development of society. In the end, as one grows and matures with time, it is in our hands the decision we make everyday. We choose and control what we do or say and it is up to us whether we want to keep a chaotic manners-free society or make the difference and