Have children’s manners deteriorated, and if so, who’s to blame?

According to parenting columnist with the iPaper Genevieve Roberts, the answer is yes, and the fault lies with parents.

“I think the fast pace of life means that people sometimes have a bit less time for manners,” she told Newstalk Breakfast.

“Certainly, one of the psychologists I spoke to, Martha Deiros Collado, she was saying she genuinely thinks adults are getting ruder and that that’s spilling down to children as well, because we learn from our grownups.”

Ms Roberts said that simply teaching children the right script to follow doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll understand the importance of it.

“One of the things that really came out when I was chatting to people was that actually, perhaps the formality leads us to it being all about the please and the thank you, rather than giving that sentiment behind it,” she said.

“I had some really, really good advice actually, Martha Deiros Collado was saying to me, when it comes to sorry and that sentiment behind it, otherwise you can breed a bit of resentment.

“I saw my eldest daughter after a row with my son, and then afterwards she started playing this game that my son absolutely loves.

“That was her way of saying sorry, and so I had this advice to actually say beyond that formality of the set words, it is that feeling, and that counts so much more for both of them.”

Kids arguing for playing with a digital tablet on a sofa. Image: Jordi De Rueda Roigé. 17 March 2014

According to Ms Roberts, parents can’t expect to just tell their children to be well mannered if they don’t model the behaviour themselves.

“What we do, they will follow and they will copy,” she said.

“That ‘Do as I say not as I do’ doesn’t work at all.

“I think we all learn that as parents.

"It’s frustrating, isn’t it?"

Main image: A cheeky 4 year old girl sticking 2 fingers up. Image: Yorkshire Pics / Alamy. 11 March 2020