This is the second of a two-part blog on things to teach your child outside of their general academic education. The first part to this article can be found here.
Let’s pick up where we left off at number six.
6. Teach your children to call people Mr., Mrs. and Miss
Not everyone may agree, but addressing adults as Mr., Mrs. or Miss is important. Titles establish age boundaries and conveys respect. A child addressing someone as Mr. or Mrs. communicates to an adult “I acknowledge that you are older than me (i.e. you are not my peer or buddy). Because you are older than me (and probably wiser) you deserve my respect.”
We require our kids to address anyone in a position of authority as Miss/Mrs./Mr. unless the adult being addressed specifically requests for our children to call them by their first name. My husband and I make this (sometimes awkward) formality easier for our children by doing the same thing ourselves that we expected of them. If someone is a generation or two older we often refer to them as Mr. or Mrs., unless they instruct us otherwise.