Stephen L. Carter discusses in his essay “Just Be Nice,” how etiquette and decorum levels have declined since he was in school and growing up. He offers that it may be a direct result of the lack of trust in others, educating students about manners in schools, and the deliberate abuse of ‘rights’ in America. Carter argues how presently, wearing profanity on one’s clothing, food handlers having multiple piercings on their face, and speaking out inappropriately is mostly acceptable, but would have been intolerable, and would be considered “indoctrination” when he was growing up. After this, Carter claims that schools only teach sex education and not to “engage in harassment,” and that they don’t teach the decent rules that should be taught. Carter’s main point is that there is a significant gap in what children are learning, and that this gap should be filled with conduct, self respect, and respect for others. He states that “We suffer from… elevation of self expression over self control.” He explains this by using examples specific to individuals, and how they conduct themselves in public. Carter also questions whether it is morally right or wrong to wear droopy pants mocking prison attire, whether it is appropriate to blast music in public, to drag race, to advertise profanity and for someone to puncture their own face expecting everyone to accept your actions without complaint. Carter compares society to “animals,” that act on instinct when they are outraged, “saying the first word that comes to mind,” and stop working on self conduct in public. Carter also implies that the public abuses the right of freedom of speech, because they forget the history behind the laws, and they fail to recognize appropriate and inappropriate behaviors. Carter supports this by saying “It is unlikely that the framers [of the constitution] imagined a world in which I might feel (morally) free to say the first thing that came into my head… when offensiveness becomes a...