英國："禮儀之邦"世風日下

Britons are ruder than they were a decade ago, according to a survey on Monday that showed almost three-quarters of people think manners should be taught at school.

A third believe bad manners are the catalyst for much of the anti-social behaviour in Britain, the ITV poll found.

Experts interviewed by the network blamed a lack of respect for authority.

More than 90 percent of respondents believe parents are failing to ensure their children learn proper manners and that bad behaviour of celebrities and footballers are setting a poor example for impressionable youngsters.

Spitting and swearing were the most offensive behaviours, it found, while queue-jumping and not saying "please" or "thank you" were other main gripes.

Almost 75 percent of the 3,000 people surveyed believed manners should be taught at school.

The head of the Campaign for Courtesy, broadcaster Esther Rantzen, said a lack of discipline was also to blame.

"I think my generation has a lot to answer for because I think the youth culture in the 60s and early 70s threw out every rule book and thought it was really clever to use four letter words," she said.

"But I think things should go back, not to the old deference, not to grovelling, not to any of that but just to feeling respect, because I think that would make everyone's life more pleasant."

本週一公佈的一項調查顯示，如今的英國人可不像十年前那麼彬彬有禮。近四分之三的受訪者認爲學校應加強禮儀教育。

這項由ITV網站開展的民調發現，三分之一的人認爲行爲不端是導致英國很多反社會行爲的重要因素。

一些受訪專家認爲，現在的人們對權威不夠尊重。

超過90%的受訪者認爲，家長沒有盡到讓孩子接受良好禮儀教育的責任，此外，一些名人和足球明星的不良行爲也給易受影響的青少年們樹立了不良榜樣。

調查發現，隨地吐痰和說髒話被認爲是最無禮的行爲；插隊、不說“請”和“謝謝”等行爲也被認爲是沒有禮貌的主要表現。

在三千名受訪者中，近75%的人認爲學校應開設禮儀課程。

“禮儀運動”的領導人、播音員埃瑟•蘭澤恩說，缺乏規範也是“世風日下”的一個原因。

她說：“我覺得我們那一代人應該負主要責任，上世紀六十年代至七十年代初期的青年不學任何禮儀，並認爲說髒話很酷。”

“但我認爲我們還是要發揚傳統，這並不是說要順從恭敬或卑躬屈膝，只是要學會尊重別人，因爲這會讓生活更加美好。”