Manners Matter

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%

Source: http://www.stageoflife.com/StageHighSchool/OtherResources/Statistics_on_High_School_Students_and_Teenagers.aspx (Dec 2013)