British manners

[Tim Regan <timregan@microsoft.com>]

Hi All,

--- alora wrote:
> Why is it that most British children have such good manners? 

This is not necessarily true. I¡¦ve met children with great manners 
and children with appalling manners in Britain and the USA. However 
English children do seem more reserved, or careful with their speech 
and actions. I¡¦m not sure why this is. Part of it may be discipline. 
I¡¦ve never hit / slapped my children, though many of my friends back 
in England do ƒ¼ but when my kids misbehave I tell them to stop, and 
if they continue I shout at them. It came as a surprise to me, but 
it turns out I¡¦m pretty scary when I shout, so they stop 
misbehaving. Most of our American friends reason with their children 
when they misbehave, explaining why the behavior is unacceptable. 
This approach doesn¡¦t seem as effective at correcting the behaviour 
quickly. That said, American children seem better at telling you how 
they feel, they are up-front and eloquent about it, which can be 
really useful.

> Do the British think we are all arrogant ill mannered slobs? ;)

As an Englishman living in the USA my opinion may not be typical of 
other Brits, but I find adult Americans well mannered, well 
educated, and far from arrogant. This will partly be where I live: 
Seattle seems full of a rich variety of people and has a 
cosmopolitan, intelligent feel. But many many English people do 
think of Americans as arrogant. In my opinion this is because we 
once ruled the world and resent the fact that we don¡¦t any more, you 
do. All the mistakes and excesses Britain made in its empire phase 
America seems to be making now, and rather than recognise that Brits 
tend to be bitter about it.

All just my opinions.

Cheers,

Dumbledad.