When George Washington was a young lad, his father, Augustine, wanted to make sure George learned good penmanship. He hired a tutor to help with this challenge. The tutor taught George writing by having George mark down some sentences in his best script while the tutor recited several directions he referred to as “The 110 Rules of Civility and Conversation in Company and Conversation.”

So what do you know, but George also learned how to act properly among his friends and neighbors at an early age. All while he learned good penmanship skills. He not only had very good handwriting all of his life, but he had people skills which endeared him to his soldiers, neighbors, and fellow countrymen.

Some of those rules were as follows (spelling and capitalization as taught):

1. “Every action done in company ought to be with Some Sign of Respect, to those that are Present.”

2. “Shew not yourself glad at the Misfortune of another, tho he be your enemy.”

3. “Use no reproachful Language against anyone neither curse nor revile.” And 107 more!

Can you get a feeling for at least one of the reasons Washington became so popular with the Colonists?

George had to re-write the rules over and over again until his tutor was satisfied with the results.

Now, because of technology and computers, kids don’t seem to need to learn how to write. I’m told that cursive is not even taught in most schools today. And they certainly don’t even learn rules of civility and decent behavior unless they learn it from their parents.

What are we teaching the next generation?