Basic things younger people don't know.

Aveline

We had a very practical teacher in our last year at school. She showed us how to balance books, explained about taxes, savings and interest etc. I'd hated maths but the practical arithmetic was very much appreciated.

We used to teach a Money Management course to Y11s, but the government got rid of all that in 1989 with the National Curriculum.

Ive met teens who cant even hold or operate a pair of scissors properly let alone thread a needle and sew. Screwing in a lighbulb, changing a fuse in a plug and even unscrewing a screw are regarded as rocket science.

In between whallopings from my dad he taught me all kinds of simple electrical skills like wiring a plug and using a drill. I was able to do light fittings, put up shelves and replace power points by my teen years. He also taught me card games and how to box.

A teenage work Saturday girl I employed had no idea how to write an address on an envelope.

I know of grans who can't operate smart phones or tablets and others who think Pinterest is the devil's work.

I can do rocket science, but can't replace power points to save my life. I can do PowerPoint though.

What is the point of this thread?

I think the most useful thing I know in my old age is how to use YouTube to find out how to do the things I don't know how to do.

What is the point of this thread?

Probably it’s pointing out the difference between the generations, i.e. stuff most older people look on as basic knowledge is completely different to what most younger people look on it as.

( Note the use of the word ‘most’).

I find young people, who rely on Sat Nav, have no idea where anywhere is in relation to other places. Nor any general knowledge about where our cities are, what they were founded on and how they differ. That’s probably because one city centre is identical to all the others.

volver's point is interesting. I was thinking about this recently. As a ward volunteer on a care of the elderly ward I find that I have some of the same memories and life experiences as the people I chat to. Other volunteers are often youngsters trying to demonstrate volunteering for job/course applications. At times they have no idea what a patient is talking about and I've seen them referred to as having dementia or other reasons for saying what are, to those volunteers, incomprehensible. I find myself translating to those volunteers or explaining what has been said to them. Examples include WW2 evacuation, old local shops, old film references, Scottish words etc etc.
It worries me that younger doctors and psychologists might also be misconstruing what patients are talking about.

We knew a very bright person who went to Oxford. At the end, of term landing back with all their things. Their mother asked where the towels and bedding were the reply was"Oh do you wash them".
We all had a good laugh then I remembered when I was a student we had to show the lads how to use a washing machine and sort clothes out.
I should not have laughed when we took DD to uni there was an old twin tub, she didn't have a clue what it was or how to use it.
Appliances and technology move on we all have to learn.
As for young medics, does anyone know what a twisted pudding is? I know one who was given this as a symptom by an elderly gentleman. Some use belly for stomach others use it for their guts, they just have to ask someone who does know.

Davida1968

I wonder how young people have a clue about how to use (paper) maps. They just use their phones. What would they do in a crisis, without Internet access?

They learn how to use paper maps in the scouts or when they do the D of E award. My son is the person I would much rather get lost with as his dad and I are useless at reading maps, including google maps!

I can thread a needle and sew. Its has been of no use to me. The last time I sewed anything was younger sons scouts badges. And I could have used badge glue. Having some IT skills has been much more useful in my life.

Galaxy

I can thread a needle and sew. Its has been of no use to me. The last time I sewed anything was younger sons scouts badges. And I could have used badge glue. Having some IT skills has been much more useful in my life.

What do you mean badge glue? I wish I knew about that.

Nanda - map reading is still taught. My grandson has it in his GCSE syllabus (Geography I assume).
I know this as he really struggles with it as he's colour-blind. Even in the exam there is no help (not even to tell him what colour a road is or the shading colour for example).

There is no help for colour-blind students as it's not a protected characteristic.

You can get badge glue for scouts badges nandad. It's on Amazon. It's not perfect but perfect if you are lazy like me

How can you pass the shirt/sweater to the next sibling if you can't unpick the badges???
?

Ha I never faced that issue I only had one who liked the scouts. I have kept them all in the loft badges still on

Galaxy

You can get badge glue for scouts badges nandad. It's on Amazon. It's not perfect but perfect if you are lazy like me

I am so bad at sewing that I would sew the badge on and it would somehow turn so it would be at a strange angle, I would then unpick it and start again. DS scout jumper and blanket is also in the loft, I guess it will give him something to laugh at when he shows his own children one day!

I do all the scout/cubs badge sewing on as apparently my DDs do not have these skills.

However ........ one day when I was sewing on a badge for my GS I happened to notice that it was the Sewing Badge ... hmmmm.....

Well, my 15 year old grand daughter is an excellent cook, can make her own clothes, even has her own sewing machine. She has redecorated her bedroom and recycled second hand furniture and is generally following in the steps of her aunt, grandfather and great aunt, in being able to turn her hand to almost anything.

Watermeadow
I know an awful lot of old people who don’t know places are and they are double stuffed because they won’t embrace the technology to get them there.

My washing machine fused the power in the kitchen , I couldn’t do a thing about it , but my 19 yr old grandson explained about the “ trip “ ! I didn’t even know where or what that was , he walked straight to the fuse box and reset the trip switch , I was full of admiration !
I did get a new washing machine
Thinking about it later , I do remember turning off the power and pulling out a fuse and searching for the wee card with different grades of fuse wire , ?

Map reading is still taught, in KS2 and, as NotSpaghetti said, for GCSE. The problem of “if you don’t use it you lose it” is probably why few younger people remember.

I'm uncomfortable with any thread which relies on generalisation and, without meaning to I'm sure, sets up one group against another. My children didn't know what vinyl records were as all they had known was compact discs. They wouldn't know how to change a fuse in a plug but could YouTube how to do it. As could I. I think the OP meant the thread to be fairly light-hearted but some of the responses are not.

I gave up Geography in favour of History when I was 15. As a result, I was very good at dates but my map reading skills were,at best, sketchy. When I was a young teacher, I assisted in the school's Guide company. I was horrified when the Captain sent me into another room to teach a group map-reading. I only got round that by saying to the girls, 'Now, tell me what you already know'. They did! My DGD, as an Army Cadet, was more than able to instruct the recruits in map reading.
Sadly, sat-navs have made this skill almost obsolete.

No one knows about anything, until they do know. That applies to all of us.

I'm not going to sneer at people, young or old, who don't know what I know. Because they know things I don't.

The only thing that causes consternation for me is when anyone declares that they "don't understand" politics or how the economy is run.

You must. It governs your life and your future.