Bon ton

It is not vice to be
nice?!
• Pronunciation: (bon' ton'; Fr. bôn tôn'),

1. good or elegant form or style.

2. something regarded as fashionably
correct: The bon ton in this circle is to
dress well and know influential people.
3. fashionable society.
• Nice behaviour represents someone’s
culture level, but today it is not so
common.

• There was a survey conducted in a

Serbian secondary school and even 3%
of the examinees couldn’t define bon
ton. The word bon ton is of French origin
and literally translated it means good
tone.
• Bon ton presents the rules of nice
and decent behaviour in all the
situations of everyday life.
• The opinion that bon ton is nice
behaviour in (high) society is not a
completely true, since bon ton
represents behavioural guidelines
any time and anywhere, no matter if
we are alone or with someone.
• The first book on this topic whose
author was monsignor Delacaz, a
scientist and priest in XVI century, had a
task to distinguish the social levels: the
highest levels had to respect the rules of
nice behaviour, and the same rules
condemned “plain people” to stay the
same. Today, bon ton is available to
everyone and it is strange that it is
completely ignored by some people.
• The purpose of nice behaviour is to
make us feel comfortable with
people, and not to disturb the others
with our bad behaviour. When bon
ton prevails in a society, it is a
protection from rude and bad-
mannered people. In order to
achieve that it is necessary to
elevate people’s conscience to a
higher level.
• A survey results:

54% boys & 19% girls believe that bon ton is

unnecessary, that it restricts people and makes them
artificial
18% boys & 10% girls believe that bon ton restricts
people, but it is necessary from time to time
19% girls believe that bon ton is not for everyone and it
limits only those who can’t behave. They believe that
only certain society can make use of it because many
people interpret it in a wrong way.
28%boys & 52% girls believe that bon ton is necessary
and they describe it as Dulce cum utili (pleasant and
useful)
• The basics of bon ton are acquired in family,
enhanced in school and in the contact with
other people.
• There isn’t a universal bon ton which is
unchangeable and which can be applied all
over the world, but there are rules which
make people who respect them reasonable
and humane beings. Bon ton is influenced by
national differences because it is based on
tradition.
 School Survey
• Conduct a school survey
• Ask about bon ton
• Prepare and present the questions
• Analyze and present the data