Is there a limit to stupidity?

[Bluefish]

step daughter has a couple of friends 16-17 yrs old whom don't know who nelson Mandela is? yes they think he's either Morgan Freeman or Martin Luther King, I kid you not

[farzooks]

Dec 8, 2013 22:48:53 GMT Bluefish said:

step daughter has a couple of friends 16-17 yrs old whom don't know who nelson Mandela is? yes they think he's either Morgan Freeman or Martin Luther King, I kid you not

I was disappointed at the number of people who thought this was Mandela...
Eny fule no it not - it Chef Mango Butta Welly.

[Blownupdolly]

Dec 8, 2013 22:48:53 GMT Bluefish said:

step daughter has a couple of friends 16-17 yrs old whom don't know who nelson Mandela is? yes they think he's either Morgan Freeman or Martin Luther King, I kid you not

That's ironic Andy, as the little one has stayed here over night, and my daughter phoned to say that they had been sent a letter from school saying all the kids in her class had to be told the story ofNelson Mandela as they will be discussing it in class. Now, how do you explain racism to a 6yr old that lives in a little village with few people of colour living there?

As often said, no child is born racist, they learn it. The big thing for me is, how do I explain apartheid to someone so young? How do I explain the sporting boycotts during that era to a 6yr old? As mentioned previously in this thread, I don't think they should have to be focusing on this kind of thing at such a young age. Older kids yes, but six??? ???

[Jerri]

Link seems to be dead for me. What was it?

But I am genuinely astounded by the stupidity and general lack of knowledge kids (and adults) today have.

Last week in asda at the make your own pizza. Two teens behind me. One asked what the other was getting on her pizza. She reeled off her list and the other teen said. 'Aren't you getting veg?' Pizza buyer replies 'no'. Other one days 'not even cheese?' Pizza buyer says 'oh yeah. Cheese comes on it so there is veg'.

Last week a teen asked me how long 72 hours was.

What worries me if that they seem to be perfectly content to be idiots. They have zero desire to learn and not be such imbeciles. And patents seem more interested in putting makeup on their kids and trying to make them look like slappers than giving them a book and helping them become intelligent, educated adults.

When any of my you get cousins text me it takes me a good few minutes to decipher it. They use computers/phones for everything yet know absolutely nothing about how they work. They trust them with important info but have zero idea about them.

They just seem uninterested in learning anything. Of there's an easy option, they take it.

Maybe it's just me. If I'm using something. Be it the English language. An ego and vivi nova. A kettle. A computer. Anything. I want to understand it. I want to learn. I want to have knowledge.

[Deleted]

This true story is nothing to do with the younger generation being stupid but more to do with the age gap:

A few weeks ago I was out for a walk and further down the street I could see two young fellas standing outside a house that was being renovated. They were standing beside a sheet of plywood that was resting on a couple of tressles and were shrugging their shoulders at each other and having a right old laugh.

As I drew along side, one of them said, "Excuse me mate, no offence like, but you look about the same age as our boss. He has told us to cut two feet off this sheet ... have you any idea what the $%^& he means because we ain't go a clue?"

I explained that two feet was 60 cm in old money. He said "OK mate, thanks very much"

I walked on and heard faintly over my shoulder "what the $^%& has money to do with it?"

[djs]

Dec 9, 2013 20:22:06 GMT Jerri said:

Maybe it's just me. If I'm using something. Be it the English language. An ego and vivi nova. A kettle. A computer. Anything. I want to understand it. I want to learn. I want to have knowledge.

No, it's not just you.

I did a distance learning course. They lent me a computer. (long time ago....)

The day it arrived, I took it to pieces. I wasn't able to "write" up my essays, because it was in pieces for a month.

I didn't learn much on the course, but now part of my income relies of taking computers apart and fitting them with the requisite hardware to make them work with the software I teach people to use.

[Jerri]

Dec 9, 2013 20:57:46 GMT djs said:

Dec 9, 2013 20:22:06 GMT Jerri said:

Maybe it's just me. If I'm using something. Be it the English language. An ego and vivi nova. A kettle. A computer. Anything. I want to understand it. I want to learn. I want to have knowledge.

No, it's not just you.

I did a distance learning course. They lent me a computer. (long time ago....)

The day it arrived, I took it to pieces. I wasn't able to "write" up my essays, because it was in pieces for a month.

I didn't learn much on the course, but now part of my income relies of taking computers apart and fitting them with the requisite hardware to make them work with the software I teach people to use.

My mum got me a computer for my 16th birthday. I did exactly the same. I now build all my friends and families PC and sort them when something goes wrong.

[tmg]

I also lament the lack of basic living skills taught in school these days, we learned how to cook, sew and even iron. The expectation is I suppose that these necessities should be passed on by parents but judging by some of the students living with my daughter when she was in uni halls of residence it is obvious this doesn't happen. For example the poor lad trying to wash his quilt at the launderette because he simply didn't know the cover came off, or a friend of my daughter's who had no idea how to iron, she'd never used one. How these poor kids survive alone is beyond me..

[Jerri]

Dec 9, 2013 23:51:25 GMT tmg said:

I also lament the lack of basic living skills taught in school these days, we learned how to cook, sew and even iron. The expectation is I suppose that these necessities should be passed on by parents but judging by some of the students living with my daughter when she was in uni halls of residence it is obvious this doesn't happen. For example the poor lad trying to wash his quilt at the launderette because he simply didn't know the cover came off, or a friend of my daughter's who had no idea how to iron, she'd never used one. How these poor kids survive alone is beyond me..

I think a lot of it had to do with parents completely pandering to their children. They now have a complete seance of entitlement. They assume just because they want something they should have it. Not have to work for it.

Why bother learning to iron when mum will do it? Why learn to cook when there's microwave meals and take away.

[Karma]

You have to laugh!

My daughter and her hubby are new parents. They have this huge contraption they call a buggy ??? I find it too heavy to get in and out of my car and even though I have a large estate car it just, with difficulty, fits in the boot. So I bought a small umbrella fold buggy for me to use.

The new buggy has lockable swivel wheels, so I locked them. My SIL asked how I managed to push it round corners

[Blownupdolly]

Dec 10, 2013 13:50:58 GMT Jerri said:

Dec 9, 2013 23:51:25 GMT tmg said:

I also lament the lack of basic living skills taught in school these days, we learned how to cook, sew and even iron. The expectation is I suppose that these necessities should be passed on by parents but judging by some of the students living with my daughter when she was in uni halls of residence it is obvious this doesn't happen. For example the poor lad trying to wash his quilt at the launderette because he simply didn't know the cover came off, or a friend of my daughter's who had no idea how to iron, she'd never used one. How these poor kids survive alone is beyond me..

I think a lot of it had to do with parents completely pandering to their children. They now have a complete seance of entitlement. They assume just because they want something they should have it. Not have to work for it.

Why bother learning to iron when mum will do it? Why learn to cook when there's microwave meals and take away.

Nail on the head Jerri. I often say that in a way we are to blame for the generation we have spawned. When I say 'we' I mean the culture and new age way of doing things that was thrust upon us, as opposed to older fashioned values and discipline that I grew up with.
A lot of kids today can't learn to cook, iron, and generally look after themselves because their mothers probably weren't doing it either as they were out at work instead of being at home. I am not blaming mothers, some do it out of necessity as I had to, but the end result is what we now have.

[Jerri]

Dec 10, 2013 14:05:59 GMT Blownupdolly said:

Dec 10, 2013 13:50:58 GMT Jerri said:

I think a lot of it had to do with parents completely pandering to their children. They now have a complete seance of entitlement. They assume just because they want something they should have it. Not have to work for it.

Why bother learning to iron when mum will do it? Why learn to cook when there's microwave meals and take away.

Nail on the head Jerri. I often say that in a way we are to blame for the generation we have spawned. When I say 'we' I mean the culture and new age way of doing things that was thrust upon us, as opposed to older fashioned values and discipline that I grew up with.
A lot of kids today can't learn to cook, iron, and generally look after themselves because their mothers probably weren't doing it either as they were out at work instead of being at home. I am not blaming mothers, some do it out of necessity as I had to, but the end result is what we now have.

Also, thanks to technology etc they are the impatient generation. They want it done and done now.

If we wanted to play a game when we were kids and were lucky enough to have a system. You'd put the tape in and happily do something for twenty minutes whilst it loaded. Now they click an app and if its not up and running in two seconds they tap manically and then give up.

If we wanted a song you waited till its release date and went the local shop to buy the CD. Now they download the song when it's leaked months before release.

Everything is instantaneous. Why should they wait for food to cool or for the iron to heat up etc.

And I don't think that's much the parents to blame there either. It's just the way things are in the world today. Everything is being designed to be quick and easy.

Sadly they also lose the sense of achievement when they do something. The pride in having taken the time and put in the effort to achieve something they want.

Sad really.

[tmg]

Well until the invention of disposable clothes and bed linen (biodegradable of course) the little darlings are going to have to learn to wash and iron at some point. I think I'd feel a bit of a flop as a mum if I let my 2 out into the big wide world without the skills to keep themselves presentable. I've worked full time for the majority of their lives, knowing they can cook/clean/use the washing machine etc has been essential as it means the workload is shared between us. I know parents who would rather do everything themselves than battle with a grumpy reluctant teenager, but I find the deprivation of food or clean clothes quickly changes their attitude...nasty cruel mother that I am!