Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
My bank app keeps the records as I do transactions, I don't need to do it manually. I've never balanced a chequebook in my life (just turned 50). I haven't written a cheque that doesn't say "void" on it in many years.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AnotherTouchOfWhimsy
It's not that the kids are not learning things... they're just learning things relevant to what they need to know. If my teens needed to learn how to iron and I wasn't around to show them, they'd just watch a YouTube video. Information is literally at our fingertips and our kids have grown up with it, so they know how to access it all.
Exactly!
Google and Youtube are amazing resources, and the best skill is being able to weed out bad information. Once you have that, it's gold.
Dh and are pretty handy around the house, and we've used online resources whenever we got stuck on something new. The latest was changing out a 3-way light switch. Never done that sort, so we watched a couple of short videos, and 5 minutes later - done!
In the last 15 years I've taught myself how to play tennis, play hockey goalie, and play the drums. All mostly from online resources. And I'm not too bad at them, if I do say so myself!
My bank app keeps the records as I do transactions, I don't need to do it manually. I've never balanced a chequebook in my life (just turned 50). I haven't written a cheque that doesn't say "void" on it in many years.
Exactly!
Google and Youtube are amazing resources, and the best skill is being able to weed out bad information. Once you have that, it's gold.
Dh and are pretty handy around the house, and we've used online resources whenever we got stuck on something new. The latest was changing out a 3-way light switch. Never done that sort, so we watched a couple of short videos, and 5 minutes later - done!
In the last 15 years I've taught myself how to play tennis, play hockey goalie, and play the drums. All mostly from online resources. And I'm not too bad at them, if I do say so myself!
Earlier this week, we were having trouble with our well. The water people came out, did some preliminary work (we needed a new bladder tank and some gauges needed to be replaced) and charged us $425. They also gave us the bad news that although what they did needed to be done, we'd also need a new well pump. The cost for that was $1300. Yikes! My husband told them to hold off and we'd call them. He talked to a few friends and watched a few tutorials on YouTube, then proceeded to buy a new well pump for $450, spent under $50 in other parts, and changed it himself with the help of our 16-year-old son. It took about double the time that the water people estimated, and there were some bumps along the way (we needed to go to Home Depot three times...), but it got done for about a third of the price we were quoted. Hooray for Google and YouTube!
But instead of learning to iron, those kids are learning how to do social media marketing or build computers. And they might teach their parents. It's not that the kids are not learning things... they're just learning things relevant to what they need to know. If my teens needed to learn how to iron and I wasn't around to show them, they'd just watch a YouTube video. Information is literally at our fingertips and our kids have grown up with it, so they know how to access it all.
No not all kids are learning how to do social media marketing or build computers.
We are talking about life skills. Regardless of whether you are learning to build computers, preparing for a career in education, ITT, nursing, whatever you still generally need to have learned basic living skills. If you dont need to know how to manage your money, how to mail a letter, cook, do laundry, iron, sew on a button, make your own appointments, fill out your taxes that all fine and dandy but apparently many are finding they have no clue how to do these simple things as there are now classes available to teach young adults how to the things most adults know how to do.
Who's this "we"? I don't see that. I have two kids, several nieces and nephews, plus I see my kids' friends and my friends' kids (and even their friends) managing to live very functional lives as young adults. I don't know what the issue is.
None of my siblings, friends nor I did the bold, and I do not know one YA who can't do at least most of those things. A good friend of mine said her oldest called them to ask questions about insurance when he got his first job; the next one made all the decisions himself. My kids mostly made their own decisions. I can't remember them specifically asking me any questions about insurance, 401Ks, etc.
In short, I don't know who those kids are!
Same here but apparently we (general population) are seeing those who need special classes as they enter adulthood independence to learn to do many of these things.
No not all kids are learning how to do social media marketing or build computers.
We are talking about life skills. Regardless of whether you are learning to build computers, preparing for a career in education, ITT, nursing, whatever you still generally need to have learned basic living skills. If you dont need to know how to manage your money, how to mail a letter, cook, do laundry, iron, sew on a button, make your own appointments, fill out your taxes that all fine and dandy but apparently many are finding they have no clue how to do these simple things as there are now classes available to teach young adults how to the things most adults know how to do.
Aside from doing taxes and maybe managing money, I really don't know how people DON'T learn to do the things you've listed. Well, and ironing. I don't iron, even though I know how. I just toss stuff in the dryer with a wet washcloth for 10 minutes. So my kids don't know how to iron. My husband wears t-shirts and shorts to work and I work from home, and the kids don't wear anything that needs to be ironed 99.99% of the time.
But young people get hungry when mom and dad aren't available, so how do they not know how to make at least things like spaghetti, grilled cheese, eggs, etc? I've never heard of anyone starving because they didn't know how to cook simple meals. Anyone who can read a recipe can cook. While there are cooking classes, I don't think that they exist because people don't know how to feed themselves. It's so they can be better cooks.
I think that most adults don't understand basic personal finance. A huge percentage of Americans are one paycheck away from homelessness, so it stands to reason that they don't understand how to use money well. Also, people go to H&R Block and pay $$$ to have 1040-EZ forms filed. I agree that it's ridiculous. We did our own taxes until we became self-employed; now we pay someone to do it. Could we do it? Yes, but we'd probably miss deductions and it's easier, less stressful, and likely a better deal to pay someone else. So my kids only know that we give paperwork to the accountant; we haven't walked them through filing simple taxes.
So I guess I just don't see what the problem is that young people (or older people) are taking classes to learn skills that they didn't learn at home.
My bank app keeps the records as I do transactions, I don't need to do it manually. I've never balanced a chequebook in my life (just turned 50). I haven't written a cheque that doesn't say "void" on it in many years.
What? Im just a few years older than you. Got my first bank account at 16. They didnt have bank apps till what less than 20 years ago.
Aside from doing taxes and maybe managing money, I really don't know how people DON'T learn to do the things you've listed. Well, and ironing. I don't iron, even though I know how. I just toss stuff in the dryer with a wet washcloth for 10 minutes. So my kids don't know how to iron. My husband wears t-shirts and shorts to work and I work from home, and the kids don't wear anything that needs to be ironed 99.99% of the time.
But young people get hungry when mom and dad aren't available, so how do they not know how to make at least things like spaghetti, grilled cheese, eggs, etc? I've never heard of anyone starving because they didn't know how to cook simple meals. Anyone who can read a recipe can cook. While there are cooking classes, I don't think that they exist because people don't know how to feed themselves. It's so they can be better cooks.
I think that most adults don't understand basic personal finance. A huge percentage of Americans are one paycheck away from homelessness, so it stands to reason that they don't understand how to use money well. Also, people go to H&R Block and pay $$$ to have 1040-EZ forms filed. I agree that it's ridiculous. We did our own taxes until we became self-employed; now we pay someone to do it. Could we do it? Yes, but we'd probably miss deductions and it's easier, less stressful, and likely a better deal to pay someone else. So my kids only know that we give paperwork to the accountant; we haven't walked them through filing simple taxes.
So I guess I just don't see what the problem is that young people (or older people) are taking classes to learn skills that they didn't learn at home.
Nor do I understand how we have 20 year olds that dont know how to do these things.
Years ago we had a temporary employee (college student), when tax time came around and W-2s were being handed out she was taken aback and did not understand why she had to pay taxes on her wages because she was in school.
I don't know that its a problem either, certainly not for me. I do find it interesting tho.
High schools are too busy teaching useless things like "college readiness" instead of sticking with basics we'll all need to survive. It's the everyone must go to college push.
I do not get some of the attitudes here. Most people use calculators too, but kids should still learn how to do basic math, no? Just sit them in front of a machine instead of teaching them anything? I hope I'm not around when the power grids go down lol. Maybe if they relied more on teaching math and less on using machines, teens would be able to figure out how much change to give me when my bill is $18.55 and I hand her $20.05. Oh, I forgot, people all use Apple Pay and credit cards now, so there's no need anymore to teach about money! Have I gotten it now?
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
