Are table manners important these days?

Question

Have noticed that a lot of smaller children don't seem to know how to use cutlery, let alone properly.
Talking with a mouth full of food etc. too.
Or does it not matter to most people these days?

It's very important to me. Can't stand ignorance and rudeness. I realise children learn from their parents. 'nuff said!

Stan you are so BAD. Stop it. I neraly spat my wine out. How ironic would that have been..?
Lovely answers. Thank you. There is hope.

That should read NEARLY spat my wine out. More tea vicar?

Answer 1

I am a teacher to 3 year olds and my class basically had no table manners until I started with them. They now know how to sit, how to serve themselves, how to ask for something, how not to put elbows on the table, no talking with food in thier mouth etc. I have drilled it into them and I am strict with it. (sorry if it sounds harsh but have you ever had to eat daily with 18 3 year olds?) I have heard from several parents how they just never thought to instill manners at their age ( yes they are 3 years not 3 months) and I have received much thanks for doing this.

Answer 2

I think it is extremely important and parents should instill this basic knowledge to their children. It is so awful to eat in a restaurant, cafe or even a fast food place and see children acting no better than chimps, sometimes worse! It is embarrassing to watch so why don't parents get embarrassed by it? I think that managers in proper restaurants should have the authority to reprimand parents for letting their children act up whilst at the table because it spoils it for all concerned. It is something to be taught from when we are babies and should come as second nature. Meal times should be happy civilised occassions not a battlefield.

Answer 3

Most restaurants, at least in the UK, are pretty unwelcoming to small children. Restaurants rarely have children´s size cutlery, and it is not surprising that small children find manipulating them awkward.

However, I suspect that you are right and that table manners have worsened. This is probably because fewer families eat together at a table than used to be the case. There has also been a great increase in the number of people who eat in the street (grazing).

Answer 4

On a minor end, some matters aren't important, like asking to be excused in order to leave the table or saying "Please pass the gravy." However, most "classic" table manners like what you mentioned should still be followed. I cannot stand it when people talk with their mouths full, or interrupting, that sort of thing. I sometimes tell my elders not to talk with their mouths full and I'm only 14. How messed up is that??

Answer 5

If you mean knowing which piece of cutlery to use and when, then no. If someone used their fish fork to butter bread, I wouldn't care: it's a subtle fault and one that is more endearing than annoying nor would it really ruin my enjoyment of my meal. If they tried to eat soup with it, that could be entertaining.

A friend of mine eats with his mouth open though, and that's vile. It's so bad that he has spat his dinner onto my plate in a restaurant once. Eating with your mouth closed is basic table manners and if avoiding having a half eaten spring roll landing in your chicken chow main is important to you, then yes I guess they are

Answer 6

Yes table manners are important, i have kiddies, and i cant stand it when they eat like pigs, i havent brought them up like that. But some kids seem to get away with it becouse theire parents dont seem to mind. I was a kitchen assistant last year in a primary school, god you should have seen some of them, awful it was, if i got the chance i used to tell them to eat nicely. Yuk, nothing worse. I hate ill mannered people.

Answer 7

yes of course it's important. It shows how educated are you. It's asshamed if you don't know table manners. I have a friend from US who always put chopsticks into his mouth before we start eating (we are in China at present), so disgusting because we also use our own chopsticks to take the dish. His friends has told him to stop that but he ignored. I hate to be in the same table with him. Small thing but it's important. He's smart and well-educated but he don't care about manners, what ashamed!

Answer 8

I've noticed alot of adults don't know how to use cutlery let alone eat with their mouths closed.

YES, table manners are VERY IMPORTANT and should never be forgotten.

Answer 9

There's "manners", and there's not being disgusting.

Manners, the random pointless Hyacinth Bucket rituals we're supposed to attend to (like the order of putting milk into tea, or being expected to skewer peas individually with a fork instead of using the curvature like it was designed to be, and scooping, or not resting your arms on the table), and demanded respect (being forced to stand when somebody "better" comes into a room) can go take a running jump off of a cliff. Nobody's life is improved by them, they make no sense, and were invented by people with nothing better to do.

Of course, people shouldn't chew with their mouth open, or openly express pride at their farts, either.

Answer 10

I have 2 kids aged 8 and 10 and I tell them not to speak with their mouths full, elbows off the table. When they are finished they ask if they can leave. They say please and thank you when needed. It might sound strict but I was brought up to believe that manners cost nothing.