Manners Matter

July 26, 2017

Teens have quite a few things to say about appropriate social behavior.

91% of teens say that civility, manners and etiquette are “important” in their lives.
Most Frequent uncivil behavior (rudeness, bad manners, etc.),
- - Classmates at School. (47%)
  - Family at Home” (6%)
  - Strangers in Public Places” (27%)
  - Friends and Followers on Social Media” (20%)
70% of teens feel society, as a whole, displays more bad manners than good manners.
62% of teens do not feel that chivalry is dead
87% of teens claim they personally practice civility, good manners and polished etiquette
92% of teens say they feel social media, e.g. Facebook and Twitter, is making us a less civil society
97% of students learn their manners from home
57% also said they learn manners and civility from their place of worship
43% named school as a positive influence on their manners,
Teens ranked “Family Upbringing” as the #1 factor for its impact on civility- Education Level coming in second followed by Socioeconomic Status
“Bad Manners”, learned from
- - Media, books, and movies: 69.3%
  - School – classes: 65%
  - Friends: 61.5%
Being rude to service people: 38.9% of teens rank being rude to cashiers, waiters, or other service people as their biggest pet peeve
Other pet peeves:
- - Loud cell phone conversations: 3.3%
  - Being rude to cashiers, waiters, or other service people:
  - Displaying bad table manners: 1.9%
  - Using foul language: 18.9%
  - Talking during a movie: 8.5%
  - Not using common courtesies like saying please, thank-you or excuse me: 25.6%
  - Loud gum chewing: 3%