Do you ever speak with your mouth full of food? Do you forget to cover your mouth with your hand when you sneeze? If you are guilty of these crimes then perhaps you should enrol on an Etiquette and social skills course. This is not just an ordinary course. It's a couse in manners. You will have lessons in good manners and how to behave in social situations.
The person who teaches these lessons is Maggie O'Farril at the Petite Protocol school, and her students are aged between six and twelve years old. She things this is the best time to teach kids. "At this age they are very easy" O'Farrill says. "When they get older it's harder for them to break bad habits. Children at this age want to be polite. You can see that they 're trying"
Maggie ins tructs the children to speak properly on the phone and walk correctly, as well as telling them about basic table manners. These classes have become popular because parents want well-behaved children but they are too busy to teach manners at home.
So,whatdo the children actually thing or this course? The classes have proven to be popular with most of the children and their teachers at school have noticed thatthe youngsters are treating each other with more respect. Ther also feel the skills they have learnt will be useful to them in the future. Danny, aged nine, commented, "If i get invited to the White House, i know iwon't spill anything on the president."
Maggie O'Farrill herself believes that such skills can be life-changing "we'll have children growing up who value manners. Maybe we'll see a change in direction for the better in society." That, however, remains to be seen. Only time will tell.