I was raised that 'please' , 'thank you', 'you are welcome', 'may I'
and 'I apologize' were magic words and bridge builders

Do you suppose this concept has gone out the window in most households?

Is politeness , consideration, and respect now merely reactions or are they still actions we teach our children to initiate?

I certainly teach my daughter to say please, thank you, ma'am, sir, etc. I think it's a must to teach children simple manners. Sadly, not all parents teach or reinforce this in their children.

I drill "thank you" "please" "may I" "sorry" into my nieces. They are crazy little girls. I do not give them what they want till they say it.. many times they run crying away.

lol, glad to know Im not alone in this. My toddler girl is very bull headed and sometimes just DOES NOT want to ask but would rather demand,, usually she will go ahead and say it,, but sometimes she just runs away upset

I have always taught my son that. I think more and more (IMO) want others to raise their kids and they don't teach them much. NOT all but I see more and more these days.

The oldest one is getting better, she still demands things but all you have to do is give her a look an then she will ask the right way. The middle one drives me crazy. She will not say it, there have been days where she goes with out eating lunch for a while. She is a handful. how old is yours?

my toddler is three,, my son is already a man but we raised him with manners, he is 17.

Yep the middle is 3 as well. Crazy 3 little girls.

I so agree with others here I raised my children to have proper manners, which included the words, not only to others but to each other. I was gratified when I was never a shamed to take them anywhere and now when I hear my children raising my grandchild with the same manners I feel so blessed.

I think for the most part manners, are something that is past down through generations. I also think people can pick them up and learn from others. Sad thing is a lot don't teach their children or use them themselves.

This about better the world would be if we all could just be polite to one another.