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Are we raising a generation of nincompoops? (yikes!)
Boston Globe ^ | 9/27/10 | Beth J. Harpaz

Posted on 10/05/2010 2:50:28 AM PDT by Daisyjane69

Are we raising a generation of nincompoops? And do we have only ourselves to blame? Or are some of these things simply the result of kids growing up with push-button technology in an era when mechanical devices are gradually being replaced by electronics?

Susan Maushart, a mother of three, says her teenage daughter "literally does not know how to use a can opener. Most cans come with pull-tops these days. I see her reaching for a can that requires a can opener, and her shoulders slump and she goes for something else."

Teenagers are so accustomed to either throwing their clothes on the floor or hanging them on hooks that Maushart says her "kids actually struggle with the mechanics of a clothes hanger."

(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: nextgeneration
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To: kearnyirish2

Right...that was what jumped out at me, the woman who lamented it, but seemed to have already institutionalized in her own children to the point where she appeared to have noticed it repeatedly but did nothing about it.. I think that is what really bothered me.

She doesn’t sound like a PARENT, she sounds like a unionized teacher.

Your approach is what SHOULD be done.


41 posted on 10/05/2010 4:33:06 AM PDT by rlmorel (The voice of tyranny starts out smooth.)
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To: kearnyirish2

You see, I don’t see it that way. I see that government got in the way of people’s ability to effectively parent.

Again, liberalism.


42 posted on 10/05/2010 4:35:32 AM PDT by rlmorel (The voice of tyranny starts out smooth.)
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To: rlmorel

My daughter videotaped her cat opening the plastic storage container that contained her dry cat food. The cat then proceeded to use her front paw to reach in and grab the food. I told my daughter that I wouldn’t be surprised to see that her cat has figured out the pull top on her canned cat food.


43 posted on 10/05/2010 4:36:19 AM PDT by stayathomemom (Beware of cat attacks while typing!)
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To: Tax-chick

You have to teach them basic skills before the Attitude hits. (And I’ve found that offering high-fiber, vegetarian meals produces miraculous blossoming of culinary skills in teens. “If you don’t want what I’m serving, cook something else!”)


Absolutely indeed.

Of course . . . some know-it-all’s are not likely to profit from even quality information. . . . regardless of their ages.

Those problems need solved the first 6 years of life.


44 posted on 10/05/2010 4:36:22 AM PDT by Quix (Times are a changin' INSURE you have believed in your heart & confessed Jesus as Lord Come NtheFlesh)
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To: Tax-chick

With some of the automated can openers out there, cats can use a can opener. Literally.


45 posted on 10/05/2010 4:38:22 AM PDT by Spktyr (Overwhelmingly superior firepower and the willingness to use it is the only proven peace solution.)
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To: rlmorel

I am thankful my father took the time to teach me rudimentary skills: basic plumbing, car maintainence, hunting, fishing, cooking, carpentry and the like. If necessary, we can get by, not easily, but we can if we so chose.

Over the past 3 or 4 decades there seems to be a move away from teaching these skills. Today’s parents seem to be completely disconnected from their kid’s development except where it involves asserting their belief their kid’s have a right(!) to everything because they are alive. The notions of self sacrafice and responsibility are not taught or even shown by example. I don’t blame the kids btw, as my mom used to say, you get em as your raised em.


46 posted on 10/05/2010 4:44:56 AM PDT by Mouton
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To: rickb308

LOL! I never could use those things, but I do use a hand-crank opener at home.

My husband used to carry a P-38 on his keyring, until he punctured himself at a rather delicate spot.


47 posted on 10/05/2010 4:45:26 AM PDT by Tax-chick (I'd rather die while I'm living than live while I'm dead.)
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To: Cvengr
The battery went out on the keyring and we we bumbling around trying to figure out how to get into the car. We were trying to call the rentacar agency or AAA for assistance for 30 minutes when my wife remembered the doors still had a keyhole in them.

Recently had a customer come back in the store to 'wait' for help to arrive. It seems her electronic key to her car had died. It not only unlocked the door....but the ignition switch too!!! If the ignition didn't receive the electronic signal...the car wouldn't start.

48 posted on 10/05/2010 4:45:32 AM PDT by EBH (We have lost our heritage of "making money.")
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To: Daisyjane69

We’ve had an electric can opener hanging on the kitchen wall for at least 20 years that I never bothered to learn to use. When I need a can opened I get an old fashioned opener out if the drawer.


49 posted on 10/05/2010 4:47:52 AM PDT by Graybeard58 (Nobody reads tag lines.)
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To: Daisyjane69

Gee, Ms. Mushart, WHO is the person that didn’t teach your children how to use a hanger or a can opener?


50 posted on 10/05/2010 4:48:00 AM PDT by raybbr (Someone who invades another country is NOT an immigrant - illegal or otherwise.)
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To: Quix
Those problems need solved the first 6 years of life.

Either that, or when they get to Basic Training ;-).

51 posted on 10/05/2010 4:49:08 AM PDT by Tax-chick (I'd rather die while I'm living than live while I'm dead.)
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To: rlmorel
But there is something insidiously institutionalized about this stupidity they are referring to in this article,

Start with the destruction of the family.

Proceed to denigrate stay at home motherhood.

Lower the learning standards in schools.

Provide generational welfare.

Redefine the pursuit of happiness to provide happiness.

Remove God and morality and replace with PC.

insidiously institutionalized... stupidity

52 posted on 10/05/2010 4:52:32 AM PDT by EBH (We have lost our heritage of "making money.")
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To: rlmorel
"Many of you just won't believe this, but I had more than one young employee who complained that they wouldn't know what time it was if they didn't have their phone. When I pointed at the clock on the machine for punching in and out, the kids had stared blankly back at me and said they didn't know how to tell time from a clock with hands. When I told them I wanted them back at the register at 'half-past six', they had no clue as to what that meant."

Sorry mr. magager, but you were snookered. Had you told them their checks would be ready at half past six, all would have been there.

53 posted on 10/05/2010 4:52:45 AM PDT by The_Media_never_lie
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To: Daisyjane69

The ‘smartphone.’ Never has a device made an individual both in touch with the world, and simultaneously, oblivious to their surroundings.


54 posted on 10/05/2010 4:54:40 AM PDT by deadrock (Liberty is a bitch that needs to be bedded on a mattress of cadavers.)
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To: Tax-chick
And you've never taken two minutes to teach her to open a can, Susan? It looks like you're a big part of the problem. All my kids can use a can opener. I think even the dog can use a can opener.

Really! That was my first thought, too. Also, how embarrassed would you be admitting that to a newspaper?

It's truly sad that the mother seems to be worse than the children she laments.

55 posted on 10/05/2010 4:55:41 AM PDT by raybbr (Someone who invades another country is NOT an immigrant - illegal or otherwise.)
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To: rlmorel
As long as I have my 80” television, a 60 ounce cup of Brawndo, and the “Ow, My Balls” Channel, how could there be any dissatisfaction with life?

You brought me a smile on a non-smiling morning.

56 posted on 10/05/2010 4:56:24 AM PDT by Steely Tom (Obama goes on long after the thrill of Obama is gone)
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To: rlmorel
Photobucket
57 posted on 10/05/2010 5:03:30 AM PDT by Canedawg (... not digging this tyranny thing.)
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To: Steely Tom

lol,

...and the living room recliner with the built in bathroom


58 posted on 10/05/2010 5:09:19 AM PDT by longtermmemmory (VOTE! http://www.senate.gov and http://www.house.gov)
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To: rlmorel

Haha! Our cat (who sadly decided to go outside and play with the coyotes instead of live with our then 6 month old son) knew the difference between a can of tuna being placed on the counter and a can of anything else being placed on the counter.


59 posted on 10/05/2010 5:14:35 AM PDT by goodwithagun (My gun has killed fewer people than Ted Kennedy's car.)
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To: SkyPilot

I have to ask: “Who was that Medal of Honor recipient” in that art work?


60 posted on 10/05/2010 5:15:14 AM PDT by Old Badger (boy do opportunities abound everywhere for Real Conservatives!)
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