Why Take Etiquette Classes?

Why as a parent would you want your child to take etiquette classes?  When someone mentions the word etiquette to you, what do immediately think?  Do you think “my child knows not to chew with food in their mouth,  knows to say please and thank you, knows not to scream at the dinner table,  and knows basically how to behave”?  When I talk about children, I don’t just mean our young children but also our teenagers.

Etiquette is more than just the things I mentioned  in the above paragraph.  As I mentioned previously in one of the first articles, etiquette is all about respect and courtesy.  We all want to be treated with respect and courtesy.  I also talked about having manners gives our children confidence and increases their self-esteem.  What parent wouldn’t want their child to be confident and have good self-esteem?  Etiquette and manners encompass a number of things.  Dining skills are a large part of etiquette, but they are just a part.  Dining skills involve more than knowing to chew with your mouth closed, knowing burping isn’t allowed at the table, and knowing that it isn’t acceptable behavior to scream at the table at home or in a restaurant.  It is about knowing how to set a table properly, knowing the correct way to hold your utensils, where to place them while eating, knowing what to do with an olive pit in your mouth, etc.  These are just a few of  many dining skills that one should know.

Etiquette involves how to meet someone.  Knowing how to introduce someone and what do you do when you are introduced to someone are etiquette skills.  Etiquette involves knowing how to make that first impression.  Do you know how to make that impression when you go for your first job interview or your college interview?  Having this knowledge makes a difference on what kind of impression you make.

Etiquette involves knowing how to answer the telephone and how to make a polite call.  In the business world, how many times have you been put on hold to never hear back from the receptionist or to finally hear back after being on hold for five minutes?  This isn’t making a good impression and reflects on the person answering and on the employer.  Our children also need to know how to make and receive calls.  Do you  really want your child screaming into the phone telling you that the call is for you? 

What does your child or young person do when they receive a gift or when someone has done something for them?  Do they write a thank you note, and I do not mean by e-mail?  Do they know how to write a thank you note?  This is a part of etiquette.

Etiquette really is about the way we handle ourselves in our daily lives.  It does consist of more than just  knowing how to act at the dinner table.  As parents, we need to strive to offer and give our children the best opportunities which are available.  They are our future, and we want them to succeed and reach their full potential.  Having good manners and a sense of etiquette will open many doors that otherwise would  not be opened.   As always, comments or questions are welcome.

Questions or comments are always appreciated.

Ginny Brown
The Etiquette School of Northeast Georgia
Hoschton, Georgia (Hamilton Mill area, Dacula, GA)
Email Ginny Brown
678-889-4814 office
770-296-4159 cell

http://etiquette-blog.com