Paula Person remembers listening to the news in the late 60s and hearing a shocker. “Out in California there was a young person who answered back to a principal of a school,” she says. “I was appalled by that. When I taught school, principals were gods and children obeyed.”
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Throughout the cultural upheaval of the last few decades, Person has maintained her belief in the importance of good manners. In 1979 she created the Children’s Spoon, a program designed to teach children everything from how to sit straight and write a formal RSVP to the proper way to “design,” rather than set, a table at home. Business has been brisk ever since she taught her first class at the Winnetka Community House. Fathers sent overseas on business would return enlightened. “They said they were just appalled when they’d be in Europe and the kids were so polite and nice and sat at the dinner table like adults. So they came home and enrolled their kids.”
Person says the pendulum is now swinging back. “I get calls from people who are so frightened because their boss has asked them to host a dinner or reception and they have no idea of what to do. I tell people this is as important as math, because they’ll be using it for the rest of their lives.”
