Did your parents raise you right? Here’s a reality check that might sting a little. According to a 2025 opinion survey conducted by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel,92% of respondents said they believe manners are declining in the U.S. What’s even more telling is that many of these behaviors stem from habits learned during childhood.
How you engage with people and obligations, as well as the image you present to others, is reflective of how your parents raised you. These everyday actions might seem harmless, but they can seriously damage your relationships and reputation without you even realizing it.
Interrupting Others Mid-Sentence
Constantly interrupting people ranks right up there with screaming, “I wasn’t taught good manners!” This speaks to how much you value your thoughts as opposed to those of others.
By interrupting someone, you’re telling them their opinion doesn’t matter. Good parenting includes teaching kids how to stand in line and listen. When this happens, it is time to step back and cultivate patience.
Breaking Promises and Being Unreliable
Your word should be your bond, and if it isn’t, what does that tell you about your upbringing? According to a recent survey by Character.org, parents ranked honesty as the number-one trait they want to instill in their children, placing it above responsibility and respect. However, many also depend on teachers and other adults to reinforce these values, which suggests not all parents are doing their job at home.
If you repeatedly break promises or otherwise fail to fulfill commitments, you are demonstrating that accountability was never communicated or instilled in you in the first place.
Being Chronically Late
And don’t try to act like it’s some “quaint” type of personality; being consistently late is rude, and anyone who has been waiting for you already knows this. If you’re chronically late, what you’re announcing to the world by showing up when you want is: Me and my time are more important than you and yours.
Respect and trust are two common denominators that every good parent teaches their kids. If you find yourself constantly being behind, consider whether your parents stressed time ownership and respect for others. Being on time is a fundamental aspect of life skills that reflects your upbringing.
Talking Back or Using a Sarcastic Tone
Behaviors like being rude to someone trying to talk to you, rolling your eyes, and copping an attitude. Child Development Info points out that backtalk may occur when children are made to feel powerless, overwhelmed, or disrespected. When an adult reacts to the way they were raised by sarcasm or subtly mean defiance with an actual authority figure, it is a good indicator that this person was not properly taught respect at home.
Great parents make it clear what kind of behavior is acceptable with regards to tone and teach their children that expressing disagreement is not the same thing as being disrespectful.
Checking Your Phone During Conversations
Phubbing, or phone snubbing, is a significant issue in social conversations. If you are scrolling through Instagram while someone is talking to you, it means that whatever is on your screen is more intriguing than the person who sits in front of you. This habit is often created by parents, who, due to their poor phone etiquette, lack rules to prevent children’s device use from interfering with their lives.
If they are having a face-to-face conversation with you, then paying attention to it is the least courtesy you can offer them, and if not that far back, you need some basic education on how social interaction works.
Gossiping and Spreading Negativity
Gossiping and creating drama reveal that you were not raised to be loyal or loving. Published in Frontiers in Psychology, nearly two-thirds involve talking about others who are not present.
If you’re talking negatively about everyone you come across, you’re creating such a toxic environment in your life. Although the saying goes more like “If you ain’t got anything good to say, then shut your mouth,” every decent parent who raises their child properly will also teach them this.
Ignoring Family Traditions or Core Values
Those with strong family values are more resilient and able to bounce back faster after tough times.
Dismissing your family traditions and values simply because they are what they are, you are cutting yourself off from a source of strength. That doesn’t mean mimicking everything, but instead building on the foundation your parents tried to provide.
Ignoring Elders or Those Who Raised You
Regrettably, we left behind all the people who helped us get here today. Reflecting a common theme of not regularly expressing thanks to their parents or mentors, many young people are becoming increasingly less empathetic, according to Psychology Today.
Regardless of how they did it, the people who raised you died on your behalf many times over. Your lack of gratitude, as evidenced by ignoring their calls, forgetting special dates, and dismissing their advice, will only speak negatively of your Character. Consider the bigger picture.
Poor Personal Hygiene and Presentation
There is nothing remarkable about looking like you just crawled out of bed everywhere you go. That is not a fashion statement; it is disrespectful to the people around you. Your hygiene is a direct reflection of your personality, which people judge.
These other parents care deeply about their kids and their future. They teach them that, yes, appearance does matter, but not for vanity’s sake. Instead, they want their children to understand that we, as considerate people, want them to respect others genuinely.
Taking Credit for Others’ Efforts
Hands down, one of the quickest ways to completely break trust and a relationship is by stealing credit for work that you did not do. HR Fraternity also reports that proper acknowledgment and cooperation significantly increase team output. In contrast, credit-stealing produces stress sufficient to jam the group process.
Their habit of claiming other people´s ideas or achievements as their own stems from not having learned honesty and fair play at home. This behavior is worse because not only does it hurt others, but it also prevents you from becoming truly skillful and professionally good at what you do.
Public Displays of Rudeness
These actions indicate a profound lack of basic manners that should have been instilled from childhood. How you treat waiters, cashiers, and other service workers tells us everything we need to know about you.
The way you treat people who can never be of use to you shows all your training. Be kind to others; it’s free of charge, but being rude will make you lose both respect and relationships.
Not Saying Sorry When It’s Your Fault
Suppose you screw up and fail to admit or make amends for your actions. In that case, it wreaks havoc in relationships, as it demonstrates a lack of ownership.
Contemporary Family Therapy found that families who forgave and worked through issues together were more likely to be satisfied with their relationships than those who did not. Suppose you are never wrong and incapable of apologizing. In that case, this indicates that your parents did not model an idea of conflict resolution.
Key Takeaways
These habits may seem minute, but the sum of them paints a picture of your personality and where you come from. The best thing about this is that it’s never too late to change these behaviors and show the world we are capable of growth, that we value respect. Be mindful of your interactions with others, and focus on changing the dynamics in areas where you lack.
Disclaimer – This list is solely the author’s opinion based on research and publicly available information. It is not intended to be professional advice.
16 Grocery Staples to Stock Up On Before Prices Spike Again
16 Grocery Staples to Stock Up On Before Prices Spike Again
I was in the grocery store the other day, and it hit me—I’m buying the exact same things I always do, but my bill just keeps getting higher. Like, I swear I just blinked, and suddenly eggs are a luxury item. What’s going on?
Inflation, supply-chain delays, and erratic weather conditions have modestly (or, let’s face it, dramatically) pushed the prices of staples ever higher. The USDA reports that food prices climbed an additional 2.9% year over year in May 2025—and that’s after the inflation storm of 2022–2023.
So, if you’ve got room in a pantry, freezer, or even a couple of extra shelves, now might be a good moment to stock up on these staple groceries—before the prices rise later.
6 Gas Station Chains With Food So Good It’s Worth Driving Out Of Your Way For
6 Gas Station Chains With Food So Good It’s Worth Driving Out Of Your Way For
We scoured the Internet to see what people had to say about gas station food. If you think the only things available are wrinkled hot dogs of indeterminate age and day-glow slushies, we’ve got great, tasty news for you. Whether it ends up being part of a regular routine or your only resource on a long car trip, we have the food info you need.
Let’s look at 6 gas stations that folks can’t get enough of and see what they have for you to eat.
