What are they teaching in school nowadays?

G-Mac

G-Mac

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The other day I had occasion to work with a young man that I'd just recently met. Probably in his late teens. I like him, seems like a decent kid....calls me "Mr.", "Sir", etc.

I was a bit surprised when he came up to me and said that he wanted to tell me something...."I can't read a ruler. Nobody ever showed me how. Can you show me?"

OK...first...I respect him for being honest and I will teach him to read a ruler, tape measure, yardstick, combination square, level, dial caliper, and whatever else he needs. But I had to ask him where he went to high school. He told me that he got kicked out of high school, but he did get a GED (General Equivalency Diploma).

So, here I have a young man, with what amounts to a high school diploma, and nobody ever taught him how to read a ruler?????

I don't blame him, I blame an educational system that would let this happen. I think we used to learn stuff like that in grade school.
 
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I remember when Trade Schools were in abundance in the Northeast area.

Not so anymore.

My next door neighbor attended Don Bosco Tech High School and picked up a trade. Retired now, but while working he was making $45.00 an hour as a pipe fabricator.
 
2 feet - 3 inches - and 3 little marks.
And he has a collage education!
 
My last kid in school attends a rural Oklahoma high school. It's quite a bit better than even our old medium/small community local schools.

I started finding new copies of 'Leatherneck' magazine laying around the house!?....I guess my son's tiny school system receives too many issues of the Marine mag..and the librarian gives them to my kid...
 
labworm said:
I remember when Trade Schools were in abundance in the Northeast area.

Not so anymore.

My next door neighbor attended Don Bosco Tech High School and picked up a trade. Retired now, but while working he was making $45.00 an hour as a pipe fabricator.
Click to expand...


That's nothing. Salesmen and Congressmen make a lot more than that as Truth Fabricators. ;)

Seriously, we have HS graduates now who don't know the difference between Austria and Australia and who can't find either on a globe. I read recently about one kid who can't read an analog clock!

And I think I've mentioned here the college girl/waitress who asked what I'd paid for a checkered sterling silver Parker 75 pen. I told her, and it wasn't cheap. She gasped and wanted to know why I'd pay that for a pen that I'd have to throw out when it was empty of ink!

I bought her a Parker T-Ball Jotter...and an ink refill ctg.

But it is now hard to find ballpoint refills. And the present generation largely spells like many members of this board. They probably can't do math with a pen and paper. Need a calculator.

Back when I was a kid, I read a SF story by Isaac Asimov. It involved a fellow who was a sensation because he could do sums without a calculator. That particular parakeet has come home to roost in reality! :eek:

What do schools now teach? Well, Political Correctness. And probably, about computers.
 
When I saw the title to this thread the first thing that came to mind was "not much"...

They learn how to put a condom on a banana, everything about the Liberal agenda, and maybe (if they are lucky) how to use a computer. Not knowing the difference between Austria and Australia is bad - but I've got an example for you that's even worse.

Here in Washington, right in the middle of the state, there is a town named George. Just a few miles east of there is another town named Quincy with a big sign to Martha's Inn. Driving down I-90 you can see signs directing you to the appropriate exit to reach both places.

As we were driving Seattle to Spokane I pointed at the sign for the exit to George and asked my 14 year old "do you know who that town is named for?". Of course he knew it was named for our first President - so far so good. At the very next exit just a couple of minutes later I pointed at the sign for the exit to Martha's Inn and asked "What about that one - who is that place named for?" He had no clue. A high school Freshman and he had no idea whatsoever who Martha Washington was. Never even heard of her.

I've tried to teach him some of the tricks my dad taught me for calculating numbers in his head, but it would seem that almost none of it has "stuck". For example multiplying 5 times 49 you multiply 5 times 50 and subtract 5 or to multiply 5 times 52 would be 5 times fifty plus five times two. Simple stuff, right? Not only can he not do it, his answer will, often as not, be off by an order of magnitude. Instead of 245 or 260 for the previous two examples he might come up with something like 25 or maybe 2500.

They sure aren't teaching the old readin', writin', and 'rithmatic - or even much in the way of logic - anymore.
 
I respect anyone

I respect anyone taking time and trouble to get their GED, but it's like Cliffs Notes. Not a substitute for the real thing. Of course a person with drive and smarts can succeed in spite of a lack of education. The first person I think of there is my own Dad. He worked himself from a railroad gang to regional supervision after getting his GED. I admire the younger person for being honest and working to fix it.
 
Back in the 70's I was a school teacher. High School Industrial Arts. When I did my student teaching semester, the first week was spent teaching the kids how to read a ruler. And how to add fractions.

You want to mess up the average young adult? Ask them to add 1/2 + 3/8, then multiply it by 1/4.
 
That's all him not the school system. Following what you said. ....He got kicked out so he was a bad kid, probably didn't pay attention much or do homework. GED is not a school education it's condensed and designed to give as much as possible in a short period of time. It's not 5 he same as going 4 years to high school. And if he's still a teen what age did he get kicked out at? 13?

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk
 
May not be able to read a ruler but I bet he can factor 2x squared-8x+15. Common Core is supposed to relate academic content to solving everyday problems. Fail. Joe
 
I dont know about a GED today, but when I was a kid a GED was something for a kid who spent his teen years getting high instead of going to school and often had disinterested or hopelessly screwed up parent.
 
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