Bad Manners and Wrong Conduct

Mayaot na mga batasan kuman ini mga batan-on! We often overhear these words from adults and even from teachers who could not understand why kids are doing things which are not aligned to the universal values. The discussion reached to the level of legislators which prompted them to “revive” GMRC or Good Manners and Right Conduct.

A bicameral conference committee approved the consolidated version of the proposed Comprehensive Values Education Act, which mandates that good manners and right conduct (GMRC) be taught as a subject in elementary and high schools. Senators and congressmen have consolidated provisions to strengthen the law on GMRC education for young people who will be required to take a mandatory GMRC subject under the K-12 curriculum.

Under Senate Bill (SB) 1224, values education, including GMRC, will be taught to elementary and senior high school students for an hour daily. In the case of kindergarten pupils, values education shall be integrated with their daily learning activities (philstar.com).

Manners, according to the Cambridge dictionary, are ways of behaving toward people, especially ways that are socially correct and show respect for their comfort and their feelings.

These, based on the observations among the young, are almost eradicated in their system manifested in the way they talk, move, dress up and deal with elders and the authority.

We seem to value personal freedom above the collective good or the need to live in harmony together. We should not be turned into a community that only cares about the freedoms of the individual – especially when these freedoms are used to disrespect others. Manners are ways of showing kindness and consideration. It is not how we eat or speak; it is about sharing, cooperation and respect to others.  Politeness is not something that our grandparents used to do to avoid the consequences of being "out of line" (Weldeyesus, 2019).

Ergo, we cannot tolerate that bad manners to thrive in our society since we all want to feel respected and valued as individuals. This, and other factors, might be the thing to allow us to complain about the younger generation’s show of indifference and their passive way of looking at the things that need attention (like throwing of trash anywhere).

But is it really the main role of the schools to teach good manners to the young or is this task part of the complex roles of parenting? This writer was trained how to eat properly by a strict mother and how the father instructed to greet politely every adult being encountered with courtesy! Placing their hands on the foreheads is even practiced up to the present!

Pauline Lysaght (2015) mentions that parents are typically a child’s first teachers. Initially, their focus is on helping very young children to communicate and, with age, to become increasingly independent, encouraging physical accomplishments such as walking and catching a ball, holding a cup and using cutlery. Parents are also instrumental in teaching a range of social skills, including taking turns, greeting others and remembering to say “please” and “thank you”. Parents are regarded as important role models in terms of the ensuing behavior of their children.

However, the expertise of teachers goes well beyond simply knowing which information to present to students. Good teachers understand how to pace their teaching to match the learning trajectory of their students and how to encourage their students to go beyond their current capacity and to fulfill their potential.

This is where teaching manners come in. Teachers understand how to plan for a content to be taught and how these could be manifest through performance. Once the learners understand and can perform the task related to the content, the mastery and development of competencies are considered.

But the “catching” or the mastery of manners must start at home, deepened in schools and the constant follow-through must be done again at home.

In today’s fast-paced, technology-driven society, teaching children manners is something that is more crucial than ever. One of the most important jobs we have as parents is to help our children develop social skills, show them how to interact in a polite manner with people, and teach them to treat others with respect (Lee, 2019).

But then again this potent question can be asked: Who made the environment of these kids? Why are they like that? We might as well revisit the selfish motives of the adults and our own indifference towards the use of these gadgets. You see, some of us are also coping up with this revolution. There are those who are glued on teleseryes about infidelity and are trying to learn how to TikTok. We even eat holding our phones as if we might miss something important.

There have been a variety of studies done on the effects of a young person's behavior and the influence of a "Very Important" non-parental adult (Beam, Chen, & Greenberger, 2002). There have also been studies done on how youth see significant people in their lives (Hendry, Roberts, Glendinning, & Colman, 1992). These studies support the important role of an adult in the life a young person.

We are the reflections of the young. We might as well revisit our own manners and right conduct.