Before phones were a thing, I knew lost of people who relied too much on digital clocks and straight up couldn’t read face clocks. This was 25 years ago. It would be interesting to see how much it has increased since then.
Ghost_Werewolfs on
If only there was someone who could have taught them….
Comptechie76 on
They shouldn’t be shocked. They don’t teach kids to tell time on a dial clock. I have been helping my grandkids with homework several times a week. From 1st to 3rd grade. They have never had any lessons teaching time.
sekh60 on
Gonna be a whole lot of seniors in 40-50 years time cram studying clock faces for dementia/alzheimer’s evaluations.
SevenBabyKittens on
People who dont realize that old school time keeping fundamentals teach basics of advanced math in a “useful/semi relevant way”
_20110719 on
This was a problem 25 years ago too
littlelorax on
I remember this being a specific lesson in school as soon as we could read numbers. The worksheet was a bunch of circles, and the instructions were to “draw” different times. And the reverse, write the times of the clock images. Idk what the hell happened in education, but it feels like *very basic* curriculum is being missed.
Walaina on
Analog clocks. Theres a literal word for them. Old clocks…smh
Sweet_Concept2211 on
Well, it probably took an entire 30 minutes to teach the entire class how analog clocks work and reinforce the learning enough to make it stick.
TKInstinct on
This has been a thing longer than that, I remember back in 4th grade there was a girl that did not know how to read an analog clock, this was pre smart phone too.
freemanposse on
It’s like not knowing how to work an abacus. To the last couple generations that grew up being taught how, it must have seemed deeply concerning that their children weren’t taught. But in the end, there’s a reason why they weren’t taught – it was obsolete.
tabrizzi on
Don’t expect students to know a skill nobody bothered to teach them.
katfishkelly on
Saying “old,” clocks instead of analog is very funny to me for some reason lol
p33p0pab33b0p on
i traveled for a wedding couple weeks ago. as i checked into hotel and was walking bags past the front desk i hear, “excuse me sir, can i ask you a question?” sure, what up?
Front desk clerk (probably in highs school) asked me how to address envelopes. She had been tasked with sending out snail mail Christmas cards and had no idea how to address them.
KrampyDoo on
No better time or place to learn, then.
Emotional_Translator on
“We’ve stopped teaching them how to read analog clocks, and now they don’t know how to read analog clocks”
misfitx on
More like New York administrators are shocked teachers don’t have time to teach and babysit at the same time.
The_best_is_yet on
i don’t think “stunned” would the the right word. Ticked off? Teachers are well aware of kids shortcomings today.
Woffingshire on
It takes 5 minutes to teach. It’s not really an issue.
eTukk on
In NL they started putting out digital clocks at schools, for the same reason
TrinkieTrinkie522cat on
Annual Medicare Wellness visits for those over 65 include drawing a clock with the hands pointing to 2:10 pm. Meanwhile, the doctor is wearing an Apple watch.
Heliantherne on
Had this revelation teaching high school Geometry this year. Words like ‘clockwise’ and ‘counterclockwise’ don’t really help describe rotations to kids who can’t read a clock. Already had a huge clock in the room, so that helped with demonstrations.
I’ve honestly had to start adding a lot of visuals on the walls to reference/review elementary skills. Number lines, Visuals for what ‘horizontal’ and ‘vertical’ mean, visual references for how to map (x,y) coordinates, visual fractions (the amount of kids who don’t know what a ‘quarter’ is in high school is a bit not good)…
I’ve learned to expect it though. Several kids get ‘homeschooled’ until they’re old enough for high school and big learning gaps like this are the result.
It_Just_Might_Work on
They also cant send telegraphs or faxes. Who cares
TheJanks on
The other day we’re walking and there’s something cool to my left. My wife who’s Facing me, I say “3 o’clock” and she looked right – her three o clock.
Someone younger walking kindly said it’s actually around noon and didn’t break a stride. It hit me how that’s another small thing going away.
RyghtHandMan on
“Old clocks” you mean analog clocks?? Maybe the educational crisis extends beyond New York public schools??
pequenaandjustice on
How many people can tell time with a sundial.
Exlibro on
I do use a hand clock face for my smartwach. And a mechanical clock near my gaming PC. I don’t want to lose this skill and it’s easier to count how much time has passed or remains on a hand clock. But digital clocks are everywhere. Using them interchangeably is what it should be.
kombatunit on
My local supermarket chain has this annoying policy to ask my birth date for every alcohol purchase. Recently, a new cashier asked and answered July 1st, 1970. She looked confused and told she didn’t know the numerical value for July. Good luck, kiddo.
drewts86 on
It’d be hilarious to know how many of the younger generation getting into watches as fashion can’t actually read the time.
ShoeLace1291 on
This problem originated much sooner than people think. Back in 8th grade I had a girl ask me what time it was and I’m like “there’s a clock right there” and she says “I can’t read those we only use digital clocks”. I’m 37 now so however long ago that was.
Gizmo135 on
As an NYC teacher, we’ve know for years that kids can’t read analog clocks. Unless you’re a first year teacher from out in the middle of nowhere, where technology barely exists, nobody is stunned by this lol.
Suzilu on
I retired in 2018 after teaching French & Spanish for years. Many kids stopped learning to read analog clocks years ago. It was always a hassle, because I was supposed to teach foreign equivalents for “quarter to/past” and “half past”. The kids didn’t know what a quarter of an hour meant- or would insist the clock in the problem was saying 8 minutes till ( when it was really 20 minutes till). I had to teach how to read analog clocks first in English.
burywmore on
To be fair, some students can’t read digital clocks either.
possiblespammer on
How is this a surprise to anyone.
LazyCrocheter on
My daughter is 17 and can read an analog clock but she if she asks me the time, she wants the answer to be more like digital, like “It’s 8:40” and not “it’s twenty minutes to nine.”
I find this amusing, and will say “it’s a quarter til X” and such. Then I get “ugh, Mom!”
Heheh
itisrainingweiners on
I don’t know why they are stunned. So many of them are functionally illiterate, period. I worked with a GED program in NY years back and the number of high school students we got that couldn’t read was staggering.
michiganstrange on
And then they gotta be able to read a speedometer
Old_Bay20 on
Back in 2010, in high school physics, most of the class admitted they couldn’t read the analog clock on the wall.
That still bothers me to this day. I learned that in kindergarten.
buffalonuts1 on
It’s not just kids in NY.
jbjhill on
They taught this in grade school at my kid’s elementary. They are in the phone-ban age group.
robbob19 on
When I (53) was 15 I too was stunned to learn one of my friends (he wasn’t an idiot) couldn’t read analogue clocks. Some people just didn’t watch playschool when they were young.
MisteeLoo on
Then maybe teach them how to read the clock face?
Even_Armadillo_634 on
One of my staff, 22, after I asked him to do something quarter after 10: “what time is that? I’ve never been in the military”
thumbstickz on
I used to chuckle at the videos of late night talkshow hosts asking high schoolers to address an envelope or write a check and they would nearly all fail.
While there are PLENTY of vestigial societal norms I’m happy to see die, there are many life skills these youths aren’t being taught that is yet another barrier for their already uphill battles in life.
I remember in 2008 I took one elective class as a senior that briefly went over realistic budgeting, organizing important info, and how to be an adult. Knowing some of these kids can barely read beyond key search terms scares the shit out of me.
Lucky-Donut-3159 on
I’m. 5th grade teacher. I’m shocked they are shocked. My kids haven’t been able to read an analog clock for about a decade. They teach it in 2nd grade but if kids don’t “get it” then it’s never taught again.
chunk555my666 on
Was a teacher that used to point to the analogue clock on the wall to torture kids that would ask for the time because I took phones two years ago. The fun part is that they don’t want to learn to read an analogue clock either.
Miamithrice69 on
I mean. You can learn in about 5 minutes
parrot-beak-soup on
54% of American adults read at or below a 6th grade level.
This is not shocking to me at all. We live in a country that does not prioritize or put a premium on education. Rather, we put a premium on the cost of education.
Anti-intellectualism is seen as good now; especially from a certain party. And the other party is doing nothing to drive the cost of education down.
Teachers aren’t paid enough to live, let alone teach.
What do people honestly think will happen in this timeline if we allow the most sociopathic among us to rule us?
rustyldn on
I’m a high earning senior software engineer with a 25+ year career and I can’t read an analog clock. AMA.
50 Comments
Well… this is just embarrassing
Before phones were a thing, I knew lost of people who relied too much on digital clocks and straight up couldn’t read face clocks. This was 25 years ago. It would be interesting to see how much it has increased since then.
If only there was someone who could have taught them….
They shouldn’t be shocked. They don’t teach kids to tell time on a dial clock. I have been helping my grandkids with homework several times a week. From 1st to 3rd grade. They have never had any lessons teaching time.
Gonna be a whole lot of seniors in 40-50 years time cram studying clock faces for dementia/alzheimer’s evaluations.
People who dont realize that old school time keeping fundamentals teach basics of advanced math in a “useful/semi relevant way”
This was a problem 25 years ago too
I remember this being a specific lesson in school as soon as we could read numbers. The worksheet was a bunch of circles, and the instructions were to “draw” different times. And the reverse, write the times of the clock images. Idk what the hell happened in education, but it feels like *very basic* curriculum is being missed.
Analog clocks. Theres a literal word for them. Old clocks…smh
Well, it probably took an entire 30 minutes to teach the entire class how analog clocks work and reinforce the learning enough to make it stick.
This has been a thing longer than that, I remember back in 4th grade there was a girl that did not know how to read an analog clock, this was pre smart phone too.
It’s like not knowing how to work an abacus. To the last couple generations that grew up being taught how, it must have seemed deeply concerning that their children weren’t taught. But in the end, there’s a reason why they weren’t taught – it was obsolete.
Don’t expect students to know a skill nobody bothered to teach them.
Saying “old,” clocks instead of analog is very funny to me for some reason lol
i traveled for a wedding couple weeks ago. as i checked into hotel and was walking bags past the front desk i hear, “excuse me sir, can i ask you a question?” sure, what up?
Front desk clerk (probably in highs school) asked me how to address envelopes. She had been tasked with sending out snail mail Christmas cards and had no idea how to address them.
No better time or place to learn, then.
“We’ve stopped teaching them how to read analog clocks, and now they don’t know how to read analog clocks”
More like New York administrators are shocked teachers don’t have time to teach and babysit at the same time.
i don’t think “stunned” would the the right word. Ticked off? Teachers are well aware of kids shortcomings today.
It takes 5 minutes to teach. It’s not really an issue.
In NL they started putting out digital clocks at schools, for the same reason
Annual Medicare Wellness visits for those over 65 include drawing a clock with the hands pointing to 2:10 pm. Meanwhile, the doctor is wearing an Apple watch.
Had this revelation teaching high school Geometry this year. Words like ‘clockwise’ and ‘counterclockwise’ don’t really help describe rotations to kids who can’t read a clock. Already had a huge clock in the room, so that helped with demonstrations.
I’ve honestly had to start adding a lot of visuals on the walls to reference/review elementary skills. Number lines, Visuals for what ‘horizontal’ and ‘vertical’ mean, visual references for how to map (x,y) coordinates, visual fractions (the amount of kids who don’t know what a ‘quarter’ is in high school is a bit not good)…
I’ve learned to expect it though. Several kids get ‘homeschooled’ until they’re old enough for high school and big learning gaps like this are the result.
They also cant send telegraphs or faxes. Who cares
The other day we’re walking and there’s something cool to my left. My wife who’s Facing me, I say “3 o’clock” and she looked right – her three o clock.
Someone younger walking kindly said it’s actually around noon and didn’t break a stride. It hit me how that’s another small thing going away.
“Old clocks” you mean analog clocks?? Maybe the educational crisis extends beyond New York public schools??
How many people can tell time with a sundial.
I do use a hand clock face for my smartwach. And a mechanical clock near my gaming PC. I don’t want to lose this skill and it’s easier to count how much time has passed or remains on a hand clock. But digital clocks are everywhere. Using them interchangeably is what it should be.
My local supermarket chain has this annoying policy to ask my birth date for every alcohol purchase. Recently, a new cashier asked and answered July 1st, 1970. She looked confused and told she didn’t know the numerical value for July. Good luck, kiddo.
It’d be hilarious to know how many of the younger generation getting into watches as fashion can’t actually read the time.
This problem originated much sooner than people think. Back in 8th grade I had a girl ask me what time it was and I’m like “there’s a clock right there” and she says “I can’t read those we only use digital clocks”. I’m 37 now so however long ago that was.
As an NYC teacher, we’ve know for years that kids can’t read analog clocks. Unless you’re a first year teacher from out in the middle of nowhere, where technology barely exists, nobody is stunned by this lol.
I retired in 2018 after teaching French & Spanish for years. Many kids stopped learning to read analog clocks years ago. It was always a hassle, because I was supposed to teach foreign equivalents for “quarter to/past” and “half past”. The kids didn’t know what a quarter of an hour meant- or would insist the clock in the problem was saying 8 minutes till ( when it was really 20 minutes till). I had to teach how to read analog clocks first in English.
To be fair, some students can’t read digital clocks either.
How is this a surprise to anyone.
My daughter is 17 and can read an analog clock but she if she asks me the time, she wants the answer to be more like digital, like “It’s 8:40” and not “it’s twenty minutes to nine.”
I find this amusing, and will say “it’s a quarter til X” and such. Then I get “ugh, Mom!”
Heheh
I don’t know why they are stunned. So many of them are functionally illiterate, period. I worked with a GED program in NY years back and the number of high school students we got that couldn’t read was staggering.
And then they gotta be able to read a speedometer
Back in 2010, in high school physics, most of the class admitted they couldn’t read the analog clock on the wall.
That still bothers me to this day. I learned that in kindergarten.
It’s not just kids in NY.
They taught this in grade school at my kid’s elementary. They are in the phone-ban age group.
When I (53) was 15 I too was stunned to learn one of my friends (he wasn’t an idiot) couldn’t read analogue clocks. Some people just didn’t watch playschool when they were young.
Then maybe teach them how to read the clock face?
One of my staff, 22, after I asked him to do something quarter after 10: “what time is that? I’ve never been in the military”
I used to chuckle at the videos of late night talkshow hosts asking high schoolers to address an envelope or write a check and they would nearly all fail.
While there are PLENTY of vestigial societal norms I’m happy to see die, there are many life skills these youths aren’t being taught that is yet another barrier for their already uphill battles in life.
I remember in 2008 I took one elective class as a senior that briefly went over realistic budgeting, organizing important info, and how to be an adult. Knowing some of these kids can barely read beyond key search terms scares the shit out of me.
I’m. 5th grade teacher. I’m shocked they are shocked. My kids haven’t been able to read an analog clock for about a decade. They teach it in 2nd grade but if kids don’t “get it” then it’s never taught again.
Was a teacher that used to point to the analogue clock on the wall to torture kids that would ask for the time because I took phones two years ago. The fun part is that they don’t want to learn to read an analogue clock either.
I mean. You can learn in about 5 minutes
54% of American adults read at or below a 6th grade level.
This is not shocking to me at all. We live in a country that does not prioritize or put a premium on education. Rather, we put a premium on the cost of education.
Anti-intellectualism is seen as good now; especially from a certain party. And the other party is doing nothing to drive the cost of education down.
Teachers aren’t paid enough to live, let alone teach.
What do people honestly think will happen in this timeline if we allow the most sociopathic among us to rule us?
I’m a high earning senior software engineer with a 25+ year career and I can’t read an analog clock. AMA.