Please and thank you goes a long way in today’s society. With the rising use of cell phones, texting and social media, kids spend more time looking at their phones instead of the people with them at the dinner table with. The Bell County Extension Council, FCS Advisory Council and a local school district felt it was important to teach kids the importance of manners and how to act in different social setting, whether it be at home or in public.

The Family and Consumer Science Agent and program assistant implemented Manners for the Real World to 117 middle school students at Pineville. The Extension Service and school staff wanted the students to learn and apply good table manners in any social setting or special occasion. Using UK publications from 4-H and FCS on etiquette, students practiced setting the table correctly and were given hands on opportunities to practice what they had been taught (passing the food in the right direction, knowing where to place napkins and utensils, no cell phones and elbows off the table).

After the program concluded students participated in a true/false quiz, which revealed that:

1. 100% can now set a table properly.
2. 100 % of students stated that they would practice using good table manners at home and in a public setting.
3. 85% of the students recognize when they are not using proper mealtime manners at the table.