Let me tell you about working in an all girls school with young ladies who are required to wear short skirts....How does one politely inform a teenage girl that if she must wear her skirt two inches shorter than the dress code requirement, then she should bend at the knees and not at the waist? How do you let young women know that lounging on the sofas in the library is not acceptable, even if there are no men around? Sigh.Thanks to the an opportunity from book sneeze, I received a copy of 50 Things Every Young Lady Should Know: What to do, What to say, and How to Behave, by Kay West. West does an excellent job of providing concrete etiquette lessons in real life situations explain what to do and what not to do--and most importantly for the teenage reader--a solid explanation of why. I think explaining the why for etiquette is the hardest part for me. I know that a student won't listen to what I say, without explaining why good manners are important, but I find it so hard when the voice inside my head is screaming, "Seriously child, how do you not know this stuff?"
