"Most parents want their children to display good manners at preschool, school, at home, and at other people's homes. We do generally want our children to grow up and be good functioning members of society and that usually means they need to have reasonable social skills and manners," says Triple P psychologist Michelle Melville-Smith.

Family therapist Diane Levy believes that parents need to lead by example but also states that two generations ago, parents and caregivers had the backing of the community; the local teacher, principal, doctor, police officer, grandparents and extended family all agreed to the "rules" and expectations, which included good manners. "Now we are a far more individualistic society, far closer to 'what I want' is more important than what the community requires." 

As a school, we are going to explore this area of manners over the next two weeks. We are going to find out what our children know about manners - what’s acceptable in our school, and our community? What manners are important to us personally? What things offend us? This will no doubt be an enlightening topic - one that explores our empathy for others, as we are encouraged to consider others’ feelings and opinions.