An old guide to modern living

2008-01-10 07:22

London - It's everything a modern schoolboy or girl should know - how to dance the waltz, how to tie a real bow-tie and six things to do with an egg.

Brighton College, a private school in southern England, has decided to introduce compulsory etiquette classes for its 690 pupils, bringing them up to speed with old-school manners in the modern world.

Fed up with young men and women not knowing how to reply to a formal invitation, looking uncertain about what to do with their napkin at dinner, or simply being unable to iron a shirt, the headmaster has decided to take action.

From now on, all 13-year-olds joining the school will have a year of weekly classes in how to behave properly in polite society - from how to give their shoes a proper shine to the correct form of addressing people at dinner parties.

"There are lots of things people used to know that are being neglected in the modern way of living, like being able to sew a shirt button, iron a shirt or tie a bow-tie," said the school's spokesperson David Gold.

"Many people don't necessarily know how to behave in a formal setting, so we decided it was perhaps something we should add to the curriculum for new pupils."

As well as the practical skills everyone should have, the girls and boys - whose parents pay up to $46,000 a year for their children to board at the school - will be taught how to waltz, how to use the correct cutlery and what tense not to use when writing an RSVP letter.

But there are also simple lessons for the modern age, like how to put up a tent, use a cash machine or take digital photographs.

Headmaster Richard Cairns switched on to the idea after reading about a report by the Institute of Directors which found that a quarter of company bosses think graduates behave impolitely or display poor table manners.

"It's all about how we can make sure that our students are prepared for modern life," said Gold, adding that pupils were taking to the lessons with gusto. "There's a serious aspect to it all, but it's also supposed to be fun."

While boys learn how to tie a bow-tie properly, girls are instructed in the "appropriately subtle" application of make up.

Both are taught not to cut bread but to break it, and that men should talk to the person to their left during the first course of a dinner party and turn to the right during the main course. For the record, RSVPs are written in the third person.

Concerned that Cairns, who has been headmaster of the 163-year-old school for two years, might come across as a bit of an old stickler with his new regime, Gold is quick to point out that "he's only 41 and very forward-looking".

"He's a very relaxed and modern man," he said with a chuckle. "We don't want to be giving the impression that he's some sort of fuddy-duddy. These are important things that all our students should know."

- Reuters