Am I getting smarter or are our youths today getting dumber?

[Watching You]

I recently went into a supermarket to purchase a packet of crisps; price 48p, unfortunately there was a power cut. Our supermarket, not being one to loose sales because of no power, remained opened. Paying for this item I presented the young man with £1 coin. At which he called a supervisor, I was under the impression he was asking to get the till or cash register (if this is what they are called) open.

But no this youth of about 18 then asks: “what is the change from £1 for an item of 48p?” – I kid you not. I then half expected Jeremy Beadle to jump out from behind the counter, shouting, “you’ve been had!” This is despite the fact that he’s already passed away.

To cap it all, the guy who gave him the information was a foreign national, to which English and our decimal base currency were both new to him but yet even he could work out that if someone gives you a £1 coin for an item of 48p the change would be (answer at bottom of page)

Maybe I am getting old here but too many of these youths think that they are really intelligent and are capable of running Lehman Bros (OK, maybe 97% could have done a better job than Richard S Fuld) but many don’t know how to obtain basic information or ask questions.

One person I met a few years ago who told me he was one of the smarted people in his school, didn’t know how to write an enquiry letter and got all his information from ‘a mate’ who was an expert in everything instead of going directly to the source. This is a man who once claimed that insurance on a brand new sports car, fully comp would be no more than £300 for a driver of under 21, because his mate who worked in a garage as an apprentice to the apprentice mechanic (makes him an insurance expert) told him so. He also had ‘a mate’ who worked in Dixons part time that qualified him to be an expert and comment on all things electrical, technical. The same 'mate' who claimed no one would ever need anything bigger than 1 Gig computer.

I was taught that if you wanted to find out information that you contacted the source directly. At 11 I asked a question about the moonwalk and was made to write a letter directly to Nasa (who are still yet to answer).

When I left school in the late 70s we were treated like we were just average, nothing special, unless you had been to a grammar school. Fortunately, I went to University as a mature student, when one day I came to the conclusion that even the dumb kids in my school were much smarter than some of these so-called smart kids today, and came away with a BSc in Economics and Business Finance. Yet sorry to say that kids today are being conned if teachers are telling them they are all genius capable of anything.


Answer = 52p

[peanut]

Judging by spelling and grammar you see everyday, I'm inclined to agree with what you're saying.

Maybe people learn the skills to use things like calculators that do all the work for you but can't add 2 and 2 together on their own has something to so with things, I don't know.

Maybe kids are taught the answers that are in the exams only and nothing else?

[bmxbandit]

I often get the first one, as I tend to put a tiny bit of thought into what change I give people to minimise the number of coins I get back (e.g. if something costs £9.78 and I only have a tenner and change, I might give over £10.28). Cue blank looks...

What you have there are people who are simply stupid, not representative of the age group. You can find a lot of equally stupid people in the older age brackets

[peanut]

People will know a lot when they have google as their friend, but on their own you might get some kind of grunt from them.

Do you need to learn today to get by when you can get the answers to what you need in an instance? When kids do homework and use the net for answers are they actually learning?

[Stuart]

I think the problem is that our minds need exercising as much as the rest of our body. I find that if I don't have to use my mental arithmetic much, I have to think about answers to simple sums.

The problem occurs because we have technology to help us with these problems, and we use that technology too much. Combine that and the pressure our current government is putting on Schools and Unis to raise grades (note: they don't actually require us to raise standards, just the grades) and you'll find that educational establishments are increasingly allowing students to use technology to help in exams.

Originally Posted by peanutkp

People will know a lot when they have google as their friend, but on their own you might get some kind of grunt from them.

Do you need to learn today to get by when you can get the answers to what you need in an instance? When kids do homework and use the net for answers are they actually learning?

Depends how you define it, Some of the knowledge acquired in previous generations is no longer needed. IT and Internet proficiency is higher in younger generations (although still quite bad, imo) and while older generations scoff at this seemly thinking it's just a method of cheating, it's important.

[Angua]

Should have had my 9 year old there. Working out the change is something he does whenever we go shopping.

Originally Posted by Watching You

But no this youth of about 18 then asks: “what is the change from £1 for an item of 48p?” – I kid you not.

What did you say? I was about to say I simply cannot believe this tale, but you might think I was saying you were making it up. Which I'm not.
But I find this absolutely staggering. I'd have to say the lad must have been numerically challenged or something. I refuse to believe anyone can be that daft by default.

Originally Posted by bmxbandit

I often get the first one, as I tend to put a tiny bit of thought into what change I give people to minimise the number of coins I get back (e.g. if something costs £9.78 and I only have a tenner and change, I might give over £10.28). Cue blank looks...

lol. Funny.
I know just the look you mean. Even funnier when they say "you've given me too much" and give you the change back, process the note then give you more change.. Cue walking away shaking one's head...

Trouble is it's the tills that have made people stupid..it works everything out for them..Whereas my generation learned to start from the 48 p and count up until you reach the £1 mark as in "48,49,50 and another 50 makes one pound."

[DocDutch]

LMFAO nice post this but yeah I've seen the blank looks before as well when I've given 5.56 for something thats 4.56.

its just shocking but the worrying thing is its nearly everywhere you look. I'm just worried about the future when the older/wiser (and now grey) population doesnt work anymore and we get all the current 12,14,16 year olds working (good luck anyway)

Well it would be a good idea if parents got their children handling actual coins at shop counters and working out the change for themselves.I did with my children...

Originally Posted by DocDutch

and we get all the current 12,14,16 year olds working (good luck anyway)

Heh..
Fortunately, not all those kids are destined for McDonalds and their computerised tills..
I think we'll be OK. Happy Happy Thoughts.

Originally Posted by Maggy J

Trouble is it's the tills that have made people stupid..it works everything out for them..Whereas my generation learned to start from the 48 p and count up until you reach the £1 mark as in "48,49,50 and another 50 makes one pound."

I'm not sure the tills have made people stupid as such - although there's no doubt that your brain, like a muscle, requires exercise to stay in shape, and the tills probably don't provide much of that.

I think it's probably more to do with EPOS tills allowing people to get, and keep, a checkout job who 15 or 20 years ago would have been out on their ear within a week, assuming they even got the job in the first place.

Originally Posted by Maggy J

Well it would be a good idea if parents got their children handling actual coins at shop counters and working out the change for themselves.I did with my children...

I do with mine Coggy. She loves it.