October 2012
Featured in this insight: Education, Retail, Children & young people
Poll shows Britons want improved manners amongst kids: An online poll of 1,000 UK adults on behalf of supermarket chain Waitrose has discovered that as much as 72% of Britons strongly feel that good manners amongst children have deteriorated.
More than 60% of the respondents blamed parents for not teaching their kids to mind their P’s and Q’s, however 70% believed the problem lies in schools and support compulsory lessons in manners as part of the national curriculum.
Further findings of the market research included the surveyants citing children failing to say "please" and "thank you” as the most aggravating example of bad manners.
Mark Price, Managing Director of Waitrose, commented: "In school it used to be the teaching of the three Rs which was considered the mainstay of a good school education but as this survey shows, people would prefer the "four Rs" – reading, writing, arithmetic and respect."
In addition, the study found that 50% of the respondents prefer the traditional handshake as the most appropriate way of greeting people, instead of a peck on the cheek or an embrace.
A positive finding of the survey was that the concept of respecting one's elders appears to be alive and well, as almost 60% of those polled claimed they offer to give up their seats to the elderly on public transport.
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