All of us learn through imitation. Our little girl and boy always begin with “please” and close with “thank you.” We lead by example. And, we always need to remember to be consistent in our behavior, especially in front of our kids. You might find this Q&A helpful -- http://bit.ly/29qHGyH. It talks about how you can teach your children to be respectful. I also have a great book suggestion if you think it would be useful. It’s titled, Raising Kids with Good Manners, by Donna Jones. You can check it out here -- http://bit.ly/29yLcVS. I wish you the best.

When my son asks for something without saying, "May I please..." I just stare at him. He always corrects himself. I still have to remind him to say "Thank you" sometimes, but he's definitely getting better.

"what's the magic word" before doing something that should have a 'please' and 'what do you say' with a stare until it's said for something requiring a 'thank you.' And knowing you will do this in front of friends that embarrasses him, he'll kick in.

Say no when he asks for something without saying please. If you hand him anything and he doesn't say thank you, take it back. He'll learn real quick.

Anonymous wrote:My 8 year old DS just doesn't say "please" and "thank you" enough any more. I am not sure if he got the idea that it's not cool to be polite - he was hanging out with some rowdy boys at school toward the end of the school year. Aside from gently reminding him to remember his manners, have you all experienced a need to work on manners at this age and what seemed to work for you?

Do you model that behavior? Sometimes parents want to be of the do as I say and not as I do mindset. If the kids don't have a role model demonstrating good manners they won't practice it. Do you speak to strangers, hold doors for others, ask him to do whitings with a please and thank you tacked to the end of it? Just some things to consider.

My 8 year old DS just doesn't say "please" and "thank you" enough any more. I am not sure if he got the idea that it's not cool to be polite - he was hanging out with some rowdy boys at school toward the end of the school year. Aside from gently reminding him to remember his manners, have you all experienced a need to work on manners at this age and what seemed to work for you?