Teaching the Art of Polite Conversation

Politeness is one of the important virtues which parents must encourage children to imbibe. Read on to find tips for teaching the art of polite conversation. In this articleChildren are prone to interruptingTeaching your children to be politeChildren are prone to interrupting Children are definitely not born good conversationalists. As a matter of fact, their self-absorption leads them to conduct monologues rather than dialogue. They feel that whatever it is they want to say is of earth-shattering importance and everyone, particularly parents, should stop whatever theyre doing and lend them a ear. Thus, you will find children blithely interrupting their parents telephone conversations, meetings, conversations with their friends and their work. Parents who are trying to discuss some important issue or working on files that they have brought home from work find their children intruding on their thoughts, conversations, time and space. You may indulge your children a few times, but not every time they interrupt you. At some point your annoyance is going to get the better of you and you will snap at them. Soon, this will become a habit and they will turn a deaf ear to your protests and continue to interrupt you thinking that it is their right. You have to get the message across that your existence and that of other people in the world does not revolve around them. They must understand that they cannot expect other peoples unqualified attention as their due. In fact, they can only expect that if they return the favour and listen to what other people have to say too.Teaching your children to be polite Be a good listener yourself. Listen to your child and guide her so that she knows when she should be listening. Instead of nagging her or being short with her when she interrupts, develop a less aggressive way of telling her that she has to wait. May be you can lay your hand gently on her arm or request her in a firm, but kind tone to wait. Remember that she is a child after all, so dont have unreasonable expectations and make her wait for a long time before you get back to her. It is well known that patience is a virtue that is rare even in adults. If she has forgotten what she wanted to say in the interim, do not be dismissive and say that it could not have been important to begin with. Tell your child not to interrupt you when you are on the telephone by speaking. Suggest to her that she could tug at your arm or communicate her need to speak to you in some other non-verbal fashion. Tell her that you will acknowledge her need to speak to you by gesturing that she wait so she knows that you have heard her. If your child still refuses to learn, then when she interrupts your telephone conversation the next time, remain calm and ignore her. If possible, go into another room and lock her out. If you know that youre about to have an important conversation and want to be safe from interruptions, give your child advance warning that youre going to be busy for a little while and give her something like a colouring book or a puzzle that will occupy her for some time. You can play a game with your child where you take turns interrupting each other while the other is trying to say something. This way your child will learn just how annoying it is to be interrupted. Your child will learn good manners if you exhibit them yourself. Hence, if you have to break in on any conversation, make sure that you say "Excuse me…" Do not forget to praise your child when she lets you get on with your work or conversations without interrupting you. It is very essential to help children learn speaking politely. Speaking politely is not only a characteristic of well mannered person but also a trait of a balanced individual. Therefore, follow the above tips to the ‘T’ to raise your child as a well spoken and well mannered individual to be successful in life