12 Mar Compulsory Etiquette Classes
This is an old article but since I just found it, it is news to me. Brighton College on the southern English coast started etiquete classes for 13-14-year-olds because the Headmaster, Richard Cairns, decided it was time his pupils were taught a few lessons in good manners. He decided this after learning that employers were dismayed by the numbers of undergraduates who were not equipped for the business world. Pupils will learn how to iron a shirt properly, dance the waltz, when to take off a jacket or go to the toilet, who to talk to during which courses at the dinner table and other finer points of etiquette.
Each Thursday, pupils will be invited by formal invitation to which he will have to respond in a written formal manner and not by email, text message or phone to the Headmaster’s home. They will be taught to deal with food they do not like, how to use the right cutlery and how to talk with fellow guests, among other niceties.
In 2002 I started the Etiquette in School Foundation which has the mission to incorporate etiquette skills into the curriculum of the classroom rather than as an after-school activity. We accept new ideas from anyone who would like to help. Call us at 301-458-7306 for more information.