National Affairs: Politeness in Children

Phyllis Padvano is a little girl of 8 who, no matter how badly she had to tell a person something, would never interrupt while he was talking. For that reason and others, last week Phyllis was crowned politest little girl in New York City. Sharing honors, as politest boy: G. William Kennell, 9, who would always give his seat to a lady in the subway, "unless I were too tired."

Annual competition for the titles was held among the 116,090 members of the Junior Inspectors Club of New York City's Department of Sanitation. Judges of the contest were former winners; their ages ranged from ten to 15. They based their decisions on searching questions which they personally fired. Some questions and answers with which Phyllis scored:

Who speaks first when they meet on the street, the boy or the girl?—"Some people think it is the boy, but my mother told me the girl speaks first."

If someone asked you how to get to a place and you didn't know, what would you say?—"I'd say, 'I'm a stranger here. Sorry.'

"Do you say," Yes, ma'am," when you answer your mother?—"Yes; because she makes me."

Suppose you bumped into a person while skating and knocked that person down, what would you say?—"I'd say, 'Accidents will happen.' "

How William would handle his social problems:

Suppose you were downtown and you didn't have any money to get home, how would you approach the policeman?—"I'd say, 'Please, Mr. Cop, will you lend me a nickel? I promise to return it.' "

If you went to your friend's home and you wanted a drink of water, how would you ask to go to the kitchen?—"I'd say, 'If you don't mind will you let me go to the sink to get some water?' "

If you happened to knock a person's hat off by a snowball, what would you do? —"If it were a grown person, I'd pick it up. If it were a child, I'd just say, 'I'm sorry.'

"Do you take your hat off in the elevator where there are ladies?—"No; there might be a draft and I'd catch cold."