Take Two translates the day’s headlines for Southern California, making sense of the news and cultural events that affect our lives. Produced by Southern California Public Radio and broadcast from October 2012 – June 2021. Hosted by A Martinez.
When it comes to etiquette, no one does it quite like the Brits.
Since 1769, those living across the pond have relied on an etiquette guide called Debrett's, a revered work. It's appearing in classic books such as Vanity Fair and Brideshead Revisited.
But it's no stuffy guide lodged in the past. This week, Debrett's introduced its first class on digital-etiquette. It's aimed at helping high-society teens mind their manners online.
NETiquette is one in a five-part finishing class for the lords and ladies of tomorrow.
Amy Alkonis our local etiquette maven. She's author of the book, "Good Manners for Nice People Who Sometimes Say F*ck." She said it's important to preplan personal policies with teenagers.
"The technology is so fun and the rewards are so instant that we've basically become like chimps with an info nuke," she said. "Throughout human history, we have not gotten these rewards buzzes to instantly and so reliably as we with these devices. So this is why preplanning is so important."
Alkon says these three categories should be thought about before your teen goes online:
Alkon recommends driving home these points with failures, but not necessarily your teen's own failures.
"It's better to show them other people's failures," Alkon said. "Your teen will think, 'Well I can send this to this girlfriend or guy friend, my friend would never share these with anyone.' And then you show them the story of some girl who thought the same way, and then her boobs became an international news story."
To listen to the full interview, click on the blue audio player above