[Dragom]

"And that is when I had a good laugh with my butler over the idea that a fried spam sandwich is supposed to be a tasty treat"

[wildrosegirl]

Bacardi4206 Bacardi4206:

Except for the fact most children here already do have one or can get one. Considering the fact pretty much every kid here has there own personal cellphone. Hell, they are even marketing cellphones for 5 year olds. Kids here need laptops for school as well, the difference however is that if they wanted one. They can easily buy them. Afghani Children cannot.

$35 for that for school, practically any parent in Canada could afford that. I was simply proposing our GOVERNMENT. You know, those people who wish to make a better place in Afghanistan. Use this CHEAP tool to give to KIDS who NEED them but CANNOT afford them.

Yes, most children do, and most parents can. When they all do, then I'm all for helping out other less fortunate children. I'm simply pointing out that we should look after our own first.

As for your snide little comment about our GOVERNMENT, I'm quite well aware of who they are and what they're role is. You can keep your condescending remarks to yourself.

[herbie]

If there was any proof they'd educate anyone at all, I'd be all for them.
The computer generation's dropping resumes at my door daily.
Can't make change. Can't understand why you have to sell things for more than they cost. Can't grasp the concept that time is valuable, the boss always yells when you're on Facebook and passing all the tech support calls up the line without even trying.
Can't read analog clocks, can't spell, can't even understand alphabetical order.
The latest kid (22 yr old) couldn't look shit up in a phone book QUOTE "They file it under last names? Why would anyone be so stupid to do that?" UNQUOTE
Computers are NOT the real world. They can all keyboard like lightning but can't think, act and do as well as our grandfather's generation.

[ShepherdsDog]

At the school my wife teaches in they all got new smartboards for the classrooms. It's funny that as we advance, we seem to be returning to an advanced version of the slate and chalkboard. The kids can demonstrate the work they've done on their pallet when it's linked to a smartboard and the teacher can monitor their work and correct it from their own or from the smartboard.

[Brenda]

I am ashamed to say that my kids have a hard time with math without a calculator... They use that thing for what I do by heart... I blame school. I wasn't allowed a calculator in elementary school...

[wildrosegirl]

herbie herbie:

If there was any proof they'd educate anyone at all, I'd be all for them.
The computer generation's dropping resumes at my door daily.
Can't make change. Can't understand why you have to sell things for more than they cost. Can't grasp the concept that time is valuable, the boss always yells when you're on Facebook and passing all the tech support calls up the line without even trying.
Can't read analog clocks, can't spell, can't even understand alphabetical order.
The latest kid (22 yr old) couldn't look shit up in a phone book QUOTE "They file it under last names? Why would anyone be so stupid to do that?" UNQUOTE
Computers are NOT the real world. They can all keyboard like lightning but can't think, act and do as well as our grandfather's generation.

Agreed. I got the shock of a lifetime when my oldest was about 3 1/2. I found out the newly hired 19 year old at the local grocery store was not only unable to tell time on an analog clock, but could not understand "analog time". If you told him it was a quarter to five, he had NO clue what you meant.

The next day, I dug out my old Fisher Price teaching clock, and made sure both of my children were taught analog time before they started Kindergarten. They were also taught to read, and know how to look a number up in a phone book! I've often been criticized for my "old fashioned" influence on them, but I refuse to apologize for it. I'm a firm believer that it will serve them well one day.

[ShepherdsDog]

Brenda Brenda:

I am ashamed to say that my kids have a hard time with math without a calculator... They use that thing for what I do by heart... I blame school. I wasn't allowed a calculator in elementary school...

I used calculators during exams, but I did trig the old fashioned way, during class. Quadratic equations..... well, our math teacher taught us all how to use the old slide rulers, and not to depend on calculator too heavily. I used it during my TQ3 for the technical physics and maths we had to know for NWT.

[wildrosegirl]

I didn't allow my kids to bring a calculator to school until they started Grade 8. It was on their supply list by Grade 4, but I refused to buy them and informed their teachers they'd be using their God given calculators for the year.

They lived. (And learned to add, subtract, multiply and divide)

[Dragom]

herbie herbie:

If there was any proof they'd educate anyone at all, I'd be all for them.
The computer generation's dropping resumes at my door daily.
Can't make change. Can't understand why you have to sell things for more than they cost. Can't grasp the concept that time is valuable, the boss always yells when you're on Facebook and passing all the tech support calls up the line without even trying.
Can't read analog clocks, can't spell, can't even understand alphabetical order.
The latest kid (22 yr old) couldn't look shit up in a phone book QUOTE "They file it under last names? Why would anyone be so stupid to do that?" UNQUOTE
Computers are NOT the real world. They can all keyboard like lightning but can't think, act and do as well as our grandfather's generation.

I was never able to master the analog clock myself and it did confuse me for a about 10 seconds the first time I made change.

I can assemble computers from bubble wrapped parts, identify hardware errors, clone drives, basic computer networking, data entry, generate spreadsheets and program on a NES level.

I still yell at people for calling a computer a CPU.

I know that most abandoned TV's are serviceable if you either bypass the on/off switch or replace the power cord. Things I've done with a screwdriver, pair of folding scissors and some masking tape.

I currently work washing dishes.

[Brenda]

That is f*cked up tho. If you can make with your hands what your eyes see or your mind thinks, you should be able to do something with that.
Start your own repair service?

Then again... That stuff is so cheap nowadays, people rather buy a new tv than have it repaired...

[ShepherdsDog]

too many younger people seem incapable of doing simple mental calculations. They can jabber about the perceived 'evils' of western civilization and how white folk are the devil, but ask them to give you correct change from a $20 bill after a $10 dollar purchase and they need a machine to tell give them the answer. This just a further erosion of the middle class

Seems the developing world has it right...an educated population will cause your nation to grow and prosper, while in the 'developed' world it seems to be a reversal of what made us great.... stupid people are easier to control. The current education system and what they are producing seems to be indicative of this trend.

[herbie]

My gf's daughter worked for me a few years ago. So did her bf. He'd hold her watch arm behind her back, turn her to face the clock and twist while he asked what time it was. She was utterly lost!
We took out the cash drawer, pulled the plug on the till and handed her money saying the bills $18.92 here's a twenny. Lost again.
So one day the server blew, and I sat her down to rebuild our customer database. The little shit had it done perfectly in two hours, bitching all the while she hated doing monotonous shit like that. When she went off to live in Vancouver I told her I would give her glowing refs for any data entry jobs that pay way better than 7-11, but she just won't apply for those.
It's not just kids. People can't spell anymore.
Waned square bales of hay 567-5555
they're selling hay that's gone bad?
Wanted: exorst for 67 Camaro
Must be from Warshington!
A PT wagon from a pharmacy with no R on We Deliver. We Delive
We de-live? We make things dead? Not a great way to advertise your pharmaceutical qualifications!

[PublicAnimalNo9]

One of my personal favourites was a sign outside of a little restaurant in Cambridge. On one side it said, "Daly Specials". Apparently, they realized they spelled it incorrectly and "corrected" it on the other side, "Daley Specials".

Years ago when I worked in a fabricating shop, the boss hired a new helper. Part of his job was to measure and cut glazing bead with an overhead radial arm saw. The guy couldn't even determine what a 1/4 inch was. Not good when glazing bead can't be anymore thasn 1/32 of an inch off.

[Brenda]

PublicAnimalNo9 PublicAnimalNo9:

The guy couldn't even determine what a 1/4 inch was. Not good when glazing bead can't be anymore thasn 1/32 of an inch off.

We're metric (for 40 years now). I don't blame him