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What Ever Happened To Good Manners?

By CHRISTINE KEGEL

Published: December 27, 2007

The Great American Teach-In was a few weeks ago and my "Theory of Knowledge" class was one of many other classes that went to our auditorium to listen to a guest speaker from Montevideo, Uruguay, talk about the relationship of art, architecture and music.

I was one of a handful of students fascinated by what he had to say and show us. Unfortunately, some other students thought it was their duty to make his presentation interesting to the people within earshot by mocking his Latin accent. Others decided to completely ignore what he had to say by engrossing themselves in their cell phones. To conclude his presentation, he preformed a piece by Chopin on the piano with such passion its beauty would have brought tears to my eyes had I not been distracted by the strong smell of acetone coming from the two girls sitting in front of me who were painting their fingernails.

Please, don't get me wrong, I'm not one of those adult-minded, super mature, weirdo teenagers who would define having fun as going to a lecture on the study of middle-English in Geoffrey Chaucer's "The Canterbury Tales" (I save that for English class). I can understand how other students might have thought our speaker was boring, talking about lines and rhythm in art, but that doesn't justify their disrespectful actions.

It bothers me how, at the ages of 16, 17 and 18 years old, people still have yet to learn the art of good manners beyond the standard please and thank you. Their unchecked need to answer a text message or mumble a quirky comment for attention reflects the self-absorption that plagues too many of today's teenagers.

The point these students seem to miss is that these speakers give up their days to come to our school and share their careers with us in hopes of enriching our lives. What seems a simple act to us costs them considerable time and money. The least we can do is listen.

Christine Kegel is a junior at King High School in the International Baccalaureate program and an art student.

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