Cultural literacy has been erased. Smart phones and social media did it. My 25 year old niece, 3.7 GPA university grad, admitted to me the other day that she didn’t know what I was talking about when I mentioned a mortar and pestle. She also wasn’t sure, two years ago, if Jackalopes were real. She also doesn’t own a dictionary and thinks it’s ‘weird’ that I have several, including a gigantic, unabridged edition from the early 1900’s. We are so, so screwed...
> 3.7 GPA university grad, admitted to me the other day that she didn’t know what I was talking about when I mentioned a mortar and pestle <
Retired public school chemistry teacher here. Many school districts - including my own - have been relentless in eliminating lab periods. They say it’s to save money.
So the lab skills that I taught back in the day are no longer taught. Using a mortar and pestle, titration, determining density, etc.
All gone now.