Bleep ! The Decline Of Civility By Kathleen Parker

Carlson gives evidence of the decline in public discourse by summarizing an incident in which a talk radio host crossed the line of decency by failing to respect a person whose ideas differed from his and his listeners’. Why is it important to maintain civility toward those whom you disagree?

My grandmother taught me that “there is no excuse for bad manners,” and I have taken this little piece of wisdom with me throughout life. People in today's world seem to have thrown away manners and have forgotten that common decency, basic kindness, concern, respect and courtesy can not only open doors of opportunity, it literally defines their character. Ethics and morality is not just about big things – it's about the small things: the details of life. Morris calls this the “conditions under which people can be their best and do their best” (Morris p. 122). Treating people with

As American people, we know that we are entitled to certain rights according to the constitution; one of which is freedom of speech. In Civility and Its Discontents, Leslie Epstein explores the limits and contradictions of this much cherished right when considering whether he would expel a student who wrote racial slurs in the dorm rooms of a University if it was up to him. He discusses this situation and topics that stem from it in an analytical yet somewhat emotionally involved tone and makes the reader reflect on the wide range of information presented about the issues of political correctness, freedom of speech, expulsion, and racism.

My belief in civility has appeared recently. Not until my senior year of high school did I really understand what civility is and how to practice it. During the 2016 election, I saw each candidate’s supporters just tearing apart each other. Does not matter if they were family or yearlong friends, if they did not support the same candidate, they were viewed less than

One individual who believes civility is very significant is P. M. Forni, who wrote the essay, “What is Civility?” to validate his opinion. As a teacher, Forni believes when teachers choose not to teach their students basic civility components, they are failing and that his students should be kind people when it comes to other peoples’ feelings. Also, he believes teaching his students civility is very important and only a positive outcome for them. He first gives each of his students the opportunity during a workshop, to state what they believe civility is and some gave answers like care, consideration, justice, tolerance, etiquette, and tact (Forni 455). He states that doing even the simplest things like saying “please” and “thank you”, and

Carr uses examples that happen on a day to day basis, which makes it seem as if it is the new trend to be rude during social

My grandmother taught me that “there is no excuse for bad manners,” and I have taken this little piece of wisdom with me throughout life. People in today's world seem to have thrown away manners and have forgotten that common decency, basic kindness, concern, respect and courtesy can not only open doors of opportunity, it literally defines their

Conversation is a ritual every person must encounter throughout their lives in order to function properly with one another in today’s society. However, every individual has a “different idea about what’s appropriate” when approaching someone in any sort of conversation; that is why we are referred to as individuals (Tannen 327). There are thousands of diverse languages to speak to one another with, in fact that means there are thousands of different ways to offend each other with our words. Within those languages there are several contrasting gestures that can offend any single person, such as the amount of times individuals apologize in one meeting, giving criticism too harshly, or thanking someone so often it does not seem genuine. In the article “What Do You Mean,” Deborah Tannen touches upon apologies, criticism, and thank yous in further detail to explain where individuals go wrong within conversation and how they can fix their actions. Individuals find it satisfying to please others by being polite because it is the ‘right’ thing to do, however like myself others need to stand up for themselves and get directly to the point now in order to avoid conflict later in life.

Politeness is able to show a person’s feelings towards others and awareness of a social custom. There are many purposes of politeness including: creating a public self image, creating solidarity, threatening people to send a negative message, not threatening people or upsetting them, indicating social relationship, showing awareness of social context, and power dynamics. The value of polite speech in a culture has the purpose of creating solidarity. Polite speech in a specific culture is very important and should be practiced as much as possible.

The purpose of this question was to encourage the group to think about how they feel when someone is rude or ignores them opposed to how they feel when someone gives them full attention and how attitudes can be ‘contagious’.

Oftentimes conflicts are only considered to be only an international difference in opinions, however, conflict can be present as a national issue. In the United States of America, although considered a relatively peaceful country, experiences national conflicts regularly. Dennis Prager says “Since neither black animosity nor the Left’s falsehood of ‘racial tensions’ is based on the actual behavior of the vast majority of white Americans, nothing white America can do will affect the perceptions of many black Americans or of the leftist libel.” This quote defends the idea that in most cases, the racial tension is one sided and without clear evidence.

Recognizing the personal benefits of being nice might motivate us to do it a little more often like when an opponent gives you a harsh tackle in a soccer game.

Have you ever been in a situation where you wondered why people are so rude and why does it seem like being rude is accepted? I encounter a rude person at least 1-2 times a day. Growing up with a family that teaches respect, I would’ve thought that everyone was the same, but as I got older I realized most of these people were not raised with knowing how to respect people. I agree that rudeness is on the rise. More importantly because of what I grew up knowing and what I saw is a big difference to how it is now without generation.

However, we should pay attention to our manners, utilize our communication skills; and on the bottom line, we need to avoid intentionally hurting people.

According to The Positivity Solution, an organization dedicated to spread positivity, dignity, and kindness, “Rudeness is often a by-product of a lack of respect. Not to sound like Captain Obvious here, but most people don’t choose to be rude and disrespectful to people who they respect, do they?”. What they are trying to convey is that people often don’t give everyone the respect they deserve. When we do not give people respect, we lose respect for ourselves and become rude in other people’s eyes. As we learn to realize that everyone deserves respect, we can see that even the most small things can earn our attention. If you are consciously deciding to give people respect or not, that is a mistake. Why do people need your acceptance to be treated equally? They do not. And if you are making a choice based on shallow judgment, you are destroying the love and kindness that others have shown to you. To be critical like that is unacceptable and wrong universally.