My kids don't even know how to use a ruler!

[stix]

Unfortunately I don't see my 2 kids all the time (boy 10, girl 13).

 

So this weekend when I saw them, I decided to do one of my usual tests/experiments (as you do ). You know, just to see where they are at.

 

With an incentive of some extra pocket money I asked them to measure some items with a ruler and write them down. Well, the results were very poor. Pathetic in fact. What do they teach in school these days?

 

Here in Oz we use the metric system, so you would think that it would be easier to grasp than fractions (Imperial Units). After a grueling two hour session (well, not exactly) I managed to teach them how to use a ruler, I also threw in using a set of vernier calipers - my boy got the concept, but I'm sure next week when I see him, with his usual "dad, you don't anything" attitude, he'll show me an app that he's downloaded on his iPod that does the whole lot for you.

 

Oh, I feel so old.

 

Anyway, next week we'll be measuring weights.

 

Cheers.

[dusty56]

Dude;

it gets so much worse. I have great grand kids that can not add or subtract. If they don't have a calculator they are lost. I love blues music and listened to a song last night. Goes "Someone loan me a dime so I can call my old-time used to be." Pay phone, right? Costs a dime right? My Gran kids don't know what a pay phone is. And I remember when they cost a nickel.

[Col]

lol, good thing they have us old timers to show them how it used to be done Most of the tech that makes life easy was invented by people that could do maths without a calculator and knew how to use a ruler

Edited September 14, 2015 by Col

[Maxim]

Same story here in Russia.....

In the USSR every school hade plenty of machines, like lathe, kids learned how to use them, they were told how to grow crops.

Since 11 years old kids where learning how to shoot the modern guns ( Mosin, AK, Makarow, SKS ). The school teached kids very important stuff......but now....

Today there are NO lathes, NO guns, NO crop-growing lessons, NO pracrical information that may really help you in the future!

I am learning at home, by myself...but my 11 year old brother goes to school, now I want to tell what the hell they are teaching them! They do math and other lessons at scholl, but the give such hoge amounts of homework, that the child does not any time for himself! And we all know that free time, when you can do anything you want is one of the most important thing in the life!

They use plastic sceesors to cut paper, because you can cut yourself with the metall ones! Thats really stupid!

They do not teach them how to grow crops, or how to coock food! All they fo is some stupid homework all the day!

And that pisses me off. When I was is 8 grade, we made house out of paper! WHY? How will that help you in your life???

In the USSR the country wanted its people to be schientists and they needed the people....but now....now the country ( strana in russian ) does not want its people...all they want is oil and gas!

[rogeryermaw]

An ignorant population is easier to control. Higher education is still available here in the states if you can afford the best private schools. Even then one would also have to keep kids internet/video game time under control and be wary of the content kids absorb. If you want your kids to succeed even in academic pursuits, you're going to have to hold their hand the whole way through. Can't let the teachers do it. Majority of teachers out there don't understand half of what they try to teach. Edited September 15, 2015 by rogeryermaw

[taiwanluthiers]

I'm not even sure they'll survive college... they'll have to dumb down the college to have any students at all.

 

The University I have been going to (and will go back to) regularly have hard Freshmen classes that are designed to weed people out... I don't know about now.

 

In America, Mosin Nagant shoots 7.62 x 54R, in Soviet Russia, it shoots 7.62 x 54U!!!

Edited September 15, 2015 by taiwanluthiers

[Maserface]

Its easy to blame the teachers, or the government, or the kids themselves, but if you want them taught something, TEACH THEM!

[rogeryermaw]

ya that's pretty much what i said. if you want your kids to get an education these days, you have to hold their hand all the way through. there really is no where else for them to learn.

[Maserface]

for sure! Which isnt all bad is it? I am not a father yet, but I really look forward to spending time teaching my kids things (my wife isnt interested)!

[calebkessinger]

The real problem Mason is the kids are Kidnapped by the "public" school system and taught that there aren't any trees left, We as a people are evil, and nature is our god.. Maybe not quite that bad but, you get the point.

 

Not only do i have to "Teach" them the realities in life I have to stand against the fictions that they are taught. I wish someone would abolish the stupid public schools.. if you can't AFFORD to send your kids to school you teach them yourself or your family line turns into bums... In my perfect reality, kids would go to school a couple days a week while young to learn to read, write, add and subtract. Then move into an apprenticeship and live lives of purpose. There will always be overachievers that break the mold and go on to do wonderful things but the rest of society would be better off just having normal lives.

 

If you ever see any really old textbooks an eighth grade education then was like going to college now. I'm surrounded by educated idiots now that can regurgitate book knowledge yet know nothing of life.

 

[ddewees]

^ Little House on the Prairie

[ddewees]

It's the opposite here in Washington DC, I'm surrounded by people who are way too smart for their own good.

 

They may be fools, but most of what I see here is people way too smart (book smart).

 

 

 

If you don't have a MS or Ph.D., you're considered a slouch.

Edited September 16, 2015 by ddewees

[calebkessinger]

Ha... my sister has a master's. She is going back for more education.

 

She is 41 I believe and makes less than 40 a year.. doing what you might ask...

Teaching.

An English teacher and she speaks worse than I write.

[gregh]

I have a master's degree. They aren't worth much either...

[nater]

I hold a professional license and a certificate from the courses I passed to be able to sit for the exams to obtain said license. Most of the nurses I work with are the same way, they hold an RN license with a few who have obtained an ASN or BSN.

 

The hospital has decided that the BSN is so great, they will only hire RNS with those papers. Further, if anyone wants to transfer to a new department, they will need to obtain their BSN.

 

Here is one problem, the graduates focus so much on academics and writing, they do not get taught the basics if patient care. I have ran into nurses who do not know how to start IVs (page the IV team), draw labs (call the phlebotomist), draw up medication from a vial (??), or understand why certain meds are given and how they work (that is what doctors are for.)

 

Last week, while working up a patient in cardiac arrest I witnessed a newly minted BSN bedside nurse request inappropriate medication for the heart rythym the patient was in. The doctor overseeing the code just shook her head. My nurse partner and I took over and kept her pulses strong enough, and the patient is still alive and recovering. But what do I know, I am just a medic and my partner that day is just a nurse with a cert. The 12 years we each have in critical care experience mean nothing compared to a college degree....

[Maxim]

Well that is the problem with everything - they teach theory, but not the practical and usefull information!

[ddewees]

part of it though, is completing a complicated task... that can take years.

 

 

I have no problem with people going to school, only to find out they want to do something else with their life... good for them!

 

 

The actual task of trudging through school, completing the required tasks (successfully), and earning a degree... is valuable in itself. Regardless of what was taught, or what they chose to study.

 

 

Does it make them better than the guy who chose not to, or couldn't??? Nope... but it certainly puts them at an advantage in today's society. It's no secret that college graduates are hired more often than non graduates, and will typically earn more when working in the same field.

 

 

Do I think higher education is screwed up, and way overpriced? Probably... but not all of them are.

 

I was recently reading an article about occupations that require the least formal education, which can often be done in a community college, and that pay well. Intersting stuff.

 

 

In the end though, money isn't everything... it can't make you happy, but it certainly makes life easier to deal with. You have to figure out your own way of doing what you want, considering what is required/expected of you (whether that's hands on training or higher education), and making it work.

 

 

Life goes by way too fast, and you really can't ever go back...

 

 

One thing I learned, is the internet is probably the greatest single resource of information... but can easily waste your entire life. That's my theory anyways.

[carbonhalo]

While on the subject of education, what about examination and standards testing?

When I was young the government conducted the testing of people applying for most license types.( shot firers ticket, pyrotechnician, maritime radio operator, drivers license, longarm license to name a few)

These days they have outsourced most of these examinations to private companies who get paid according to how many students pass the testing (and by the students too).

Naturally these training organisations do not want to fail anyone, no matter how incompetent.

 

Now you have to pay through the nose for any type of license training, then more for the license, and then see that half of the people obtaining the license really shouldn't have.

[nater]

My paramedic license is issued by my State. To be eligible test the first time, I had to pass a course approved by the State and the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians (NREMT). Once the course requirements were met, I had to pass a written and practical exam for the NREMT. The practical test was set up by the hospital I took the course from and was oversaw by a State proctor who is affiliated with the Indiana Department of Homeland Security. The written test was a computer based test verified by a for profit 3rd party testing center. The cost for the first attempts at each exam we're bundled with the cost of the course.

 

For now in Indiana, I do not need to maintain the NREMT certification to keep my license. Renewing that is $50 every 2 years and you have to prove you have attended X hours of continuing education across various topics like pediatrics, trauma management, cardiology, etc... I also have to have physical skills witnessed by my medical director and signed off that I am competant in them. This includes easy skills like IV placement and more complicated skills like surgical airway maneuvers. Even if I maintain the NREMT cert for $$, Indiana still requires the same proof of continuing education and skills competancy, but does not charge us to renew the licenses. I believe the day will come when we have to pay to renew our license.

 

I have another test ahead for an additional professional certificate I need for my position. It is a computer based test and is $300 for each attempt. This one is good for 4 years and can be renewed with retesting or attending an approved renewal course.

 

These tests are the hardest I have taken in my life. My medic class started with 15 and 9 passed. I cannot compare them to other indistries, but ours were all hard. I suspect that the licensing bodies make the test just hard enough most fail the first time so they make more money on testing fees. I have noticed a lot of content on these tests that are not relevant to the profession. They could also be "distractor" questions that are not scored against you but still designed to assess your knowledge and/or add stress. These tests are awful like that.

Edited September 16, 2015 by nater

[wizard7611]

Unfortunately I don't see my 2 kids all the time (boy 10, girl 13).

 

So this weekend when I saw them, I decided to do one of my usual tests/experiments (as you do ). You know, just to see where they are at.

 

With an incentive of some extra pocket money I asked them to measure some items with a ruler and write them down. Well, the results were very poor. Pathetic in fact. What do they teach in school these days?

 

Here in Oz we use the metric system, so you would think that it would be easier to grasp than fractions (Imperial Units). After a grueling two hour session (well, not exactly) I managed to teach them how to use a ruler, I also threw in using a set of vernier calipers - my boy got the concept, but I'm sure next week when I see him, with his usual "dad, you don't anything" attitude, he'll show me an app that he's downloaded on his iPod that does the whole lot for you.

 

Oh, I feel so old.

 

Anyway, next week we'll be measuring weights.

 

Cheers.

 

That shows you how effective our school systems are.

[dynomike1]

I'll tell you something that is happening down here which falls back on some of what y'all said.The factories down here won't hardly hire anyone under 40 anymore, because it's that the younger ones don't know how to work, it's because they don't want to know. The factories went through that college degree stuff and it didn't work. Don't get me wrong i have no problem with education, i have an associate degree, but when i came up you either worked or you didn't eat.Now days they don't have to work because someone is going to feed them. Yea i have chopped/picked cotton, pulled corn, killed hogs, carpenter, welding, mechanic, Roofer, etc. in my day that was part of growing up. Now all they have to worry about is how to use an ipad.

[dusty56]

There are different kinds of education. I think most of us on this site are trying to learn enough that we don't blow ourselves up. We listen to Mumbles because he is a chemist. And we learn. But we want this.

I'm a student of war, "Civil and WWII", because I want to. I can because I can read. I can do basic math. I learned these things in public school. Someone said a few post ago that we should close public schools. If you can't afford schooling tough beans. Be a tradesman. Problem is no one wants to pay a tradesman for what he does. Or what he knows. Example For years when I bought fireworks I couldn't understand why they were so expensive. Now I make them and I know how much handwork is required.

When we make schools for profit the goal is profit, not education. If I go further i'm into politics.