Good manners aren’t ‘posh’

David Beckham revealed last week that one of the things he’s proudest of is that his kids are polite.

“They’ve been saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ since they were two or three years old,” he said.

David and Victoria were both brought up in working class families, and have learned the importance of good manners.

“Brooklyn, Romeo and Cruz are very polite boys,” their dad said. “That’s one of the first things their teachers say about them.”

I think he’s right to value politeness so highly. Some children today have that vital bit left out of their education.

They throw tantrums, are rude to adults, forget to ask for things properly and don’t say “thank you”.

Last week a girl who was old enough to know better slammed a shop door in my face as she walked out with her mum.

She turned back and smirked.

Her mother shrugged at me as if to say: “Kids, eh, what can you do about them?”

Well, you can start at home by teaching them to be polite. To treat others as you would like to be treated.

Good manners aren’t “posh”. They don’t belong to the rich and privileged.

They are the bedrock of a civilised society.

Politeness is a simple virtue and it starts with parents teaching a young child to say “please” and “thank you”.

Children learn by example.

I bet Harper Beckham is already learning that important lesson from her big brothers.