Yup, that's right. My 23 year old grandson has never mailed a letter before today. He literally did not know how to address an envelope or where to place the stamp. I asked him why he didn't know theses things. His reply was that he used email and text for all that kind of stuff. I'm at a loss about this. Don't our children/grandchildren really know about mailing a letter?
It's a time when many are paying bills online, sending emails, text, snap chats, Facebook messages, etc., but doing little with actual paper and pen. My youngest (last of four that is still in high school) learned cursive in elementary school, but doesn't use it anymore. My understanding is that they no longer teach it. The world is changing. Whether it is for the good or not is largely a matter of opinion (I see a lot of pros and cons). Sent using Tapatalk
Many of my sons' generation havent used a pay phone in a phone booth, used carbon paper, written a check or played a record on a turntable. Letter writing and mailing a letter via the USPS is so old-school that most 30 & unders would consider it quaint but absolutely unnecessary. Times are changing (always!) so one can lament this change or hop on board to stay current.
Learned most of the skills enumerated above in grade, junior and high school. Typing also. Nowadays they are just not taught. Whether this is good or bad only history will tell. Both my son's however do know how to do these things. Because of me. Which is how it should be.
I remember kids just a little older than me using slide rules but I never had to (thanks to the continued development of calculators) even though my dad told me I should. I was chatting with someone recently who told me that she had seen phones with rotary dials but had never used one. We were in a group, so that sparked discussion of several things like TV antennas, milk delivery, teletype, etc.
When my oldest started ROTC I bought him the best lensmatic compass I could afford. I told him to make sure that he learned how to use it. He did. As a matter of fact he scored in the top 3 in every land nav course he's ever taken. Those GPS sats will be the first thing to go in a conventional war.
Kids today can't write cursive, write a letter, balance a checkbook, change their oil, read a map, do simple math without a calculator, etc... When I was growing up, that would have been a sign of a real problem with a child. Today, well that's normal. With so much automated, computerized and digital, there's no need to develop certain skills anymore. It makes me feel a bit like a dinosaur. As Bob Dylan once said, "the times they are a changing '".
My 15 year old nephew can neither read nor write cursive and has no idea how to use a rotary telephone. I would think at the very least, kids would be taught at least enough cursive to be able to read it.
My daughter took keyboarding in school, I would think it's an adequate replacement for typing. I missed out by having to learn a slide rule by one or two years, I don't miss it a bit. Using one of the new TI calculators at the time was probably more beneficial.
It's probably a little more useful than learning hieroglyphics in day-to-day life. I can't recall the last time I read anything in cursive. I think I had to learn the Dewey Decimal system too, and try to find references using those big card files in the library.
I agree with a lot being said but being a Dad of a 9yo I can say they are still teaching cursive, but it is more of a "good to know" thing then a "must know"...math is taught in such a way that I have a hard time doing it "right" but when you think about it, it isnt just getting the right answer it is using different ways to get the same answer...so, when you see it for the first time you think it is the STUPIDIST way to do math that has ever been invented, but it also makes them "apply" it opposed to just "getting the answer" like we were all taught.....we have our daughter doing a pen pal with her cousins so she learns to properly write a letter, and learn to spell correctly (not rely on a spell checker), and how to fill out a envelope....and yes there things called a post office..... Now, I am not that old (33) and I had a major eye opener when the "welcome to kindergarten" orientation...We were told that they would start with ipods and ipads and by the time they were in the 3rd grade they would know how to type....Good-because they will need it to get by in life...Scary-because there is so much to be concerned with when you give our youth that much access at such a young age. on a side note: those USPS jobs you thought were about as secure as they come, are slowly going the way of the dodo.
