Children used to learn which fork to use from parents around the dinner table. There's very little time for the old-fashioned family dinner where everyone attends and everyone is expected to use his best manners. Television is another problem. All social graces have deteriorated, but I still have hope. The more casual the restaurant, the more casual the manners, one Tallahassee food server said.
Fast food is just disgusting.
The crux of the whole thing is that families aren't eating dinner together anymore. When you throw something in front of your kid and say 'eat this real quick because you've got to go to school or whatever,' you can't expect them to learn table manners. They have a plan on reading skills at school. They have a plan on everything they need to do, but they have no plan anymore for teaching basic meal time manners and social graces. Back to basics Poor table manners and a lack of common courtesy are not confined to children, however.