Nursery World - Manners matter

Has the old adage 'manners maketh the man' gone for good? A development play worker visiting a nearby playgroup told staff they were no longer required to teach manners to the children. Furthermore, she said the children should have access to food all morning. Where have our values gone? How will children learn to respect people if they are no longer shown the right way to behave at mealtimes? Isn't this part of caring, sharing and considering our fellows? Is that now the way to eat - any time you like and just help yourself?

Where have our values gone? How will children learn to respect people if they are no longer shown the right way to behave at mealtimes? Isn't this part of caring, sharing and considering our fellows? Is that now the way to eat - any time you like and just help yourself?

Could this be why young people are eating in the streets and dropping their litter when they are finished? Why don't they stop to enjoy their food and give it time to go down, which is good for the growing body?

I wonder how children are going to manage if they are not trained to wait and feel really hungry before they eat. Could this be the cause of our growing obesity problem?

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