Young children cannot tell time on old clocks

Newstelegraph.co.uk ^ | September 17, 2002 | Sarah Womack

[Sweet_Sunflower29]

Nearly one in three children aged between four and eight cannot tell the time on traditional clock faces.

A study has found that the prevalence of digital clocks on computers, video timers, radio alarms and mobile phones means that children learn to tell the time this way - such as "10:45" rather than "a quarter to eleven".

The survey of 2,950 parents found that the number of children who recognised the "big hand, little hand" method had decreased from 75 per cent to 66 per cent in a year.

Government guidelines state that all children in reception classes - those aged four to five - should be able to read traditional clocks. But 59 per cent cannot.

By year one, aged five to six, they are supposed to understand half and quarter hours, but 52 per cent cannot.

A year later they are meant to have a sense of hours, minutes and seconds, but more than one in four are still struggling. Nearly two thirds of this group cannot tell the time on a digital clock.

Nick Seaton, chairman of the Campaign for Real Education, said: "Children are continually being confronted by digital displays and so it is essential that they also learn to tell the time on analogue clocks and watches."

The research was carried out by BMRB International for the watch-makers Flik Flak.

[Utopia]

My kids pointed out that there was a mistake on the Roman Numeral clock I recently purchased... four I's instead of "IV". I hadn't even noticed.

IIII has been used for IV in the clockmaking biz for centuries. This is the only place where IIII means IV.

[Utopia]

Re: IIII on clocks instead of IV: Here's a picture of a Louis XVI clock by Andre Hessen Horloger de Monsieur ( Andre Hessen: Master in 1775, clockmaker of Monsieur from 1783 till 1784).

Modern Seth Thomas' also conform to this convention.

[Kozak]

I don't know about that--we still say "sunrise" and "sunset" even though we know that it's the earth rotating, not the sun moving relative to the earth.

Yeah but the obvious APPARENT motion is the sun rising or setting. Try looking for the obvious clockwise motion of a digital clock!

[Steve0113]

Today's rugrats can't make change either.

You're not kidding. I recently stopped at the grocery store to pick up a few items. The total for my stuff came to $5.61. I handed six dollars to the clerk (age 20 or so), and she entered it in the register. It displayed 39 cents change.

Then I remembered that I had some pennies, so I pulled one out and said, "Here's a penny." Very apologetically, she said, "I'm sorry, I already punched in six dollars." I said, "That's okay, just give me 40 cents." This was incomprehensible to her, and she proceeded to count out 39 cents and handed it to me.

Just think -- she's a voter.

[Charles Martel]

But the term "clockwise" will be meaningless at that point, right hand rule or not. I suspect some substitute terminology will gradually replace it.

Most likely something like "spinward" and "anti-spinward", already used in science fiction novels to reference planetary rotation. The analogue clock face is related to the sundial, which also indicates planetary rotation.

I think it's a mistake to abandon the analogue clock, as it conveys more meaning to units of time - especially if there is a sweep second hand. A digital display that counts up to 12:59 and then starts over again does not make the connection with where the sun is in the sky.

You also cannot use a digital watch as a field-expedient compass - but who needs *that*, what with hand-held GPS units? Sheesh.

[multitaskmom]

When I was a kid, we would've ridden down the hill inside of that truck tire. At least, that's what we did with the cylinder out of an old dryer.

Ah, the old days, what fun we had!

[multitaskmom]

For example, my ex-wife was the only Japanese I knew who could handwrite all 2000 of the common Kanji.

Yup, Japanese calligraphy is a dying art. We hosted an exchange student from Yokohama. She brought us a beautiful tapestry her grandmother made. I asked her what it said, and she couldn't tell me because she hadn't learned how to read calligraphy.

I told her it was a shame, and encouraged her to spend time with her grandmother and learn before it was too late. I'll have to email her and see if she took my advice.