Well educated, but useless

[MaryN]

I was browsing this thread earlier in the Guardian. I know it refers to students, but I think could probably be applied to a large proportion of the general public, particularly the younger section.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/mort...ut-useless

I am sorry to say that I do agree with the statement that many are educated only to be good consumers. This does not bode well for any future difficulties. I am sure I am not alone in knowing people who are pretty useless at the most basic skills. I was born in the age where we were taught the basic skills of living. I learned to cook at my mother's knee, garden with my grandparents, and my grandmother taught me to knit ( my first tantrum was chucking my kiddie knitting across the room). You only have to look at some of the trolleys in your local supermarket to see that very little cooking is going to be done in some households. Does this mean that when things get really serious the country is going to grind to a halt by virtue of a lack of cheerios or whotsits? Are we becoming a country of useless idiots, incapable of surviving without our fix of TV, gameshows and fast food?

I despair, I really do.

[I-K-E]

in short the answer is YES

and I too despair

[NorthernRaider]

One of my all time favourite phrases is " Graduates are like Lighthouses in the desert, brilliant but utterly pointless" I think they beat the common sense out of most unversity types

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Wanna see stupid at work watch the Eastleigh by election.

[I-K-E]

(27 February 2013, 21:58)NorthernRaider Wrote: One of my all time favourite phrases is " Graduates are like Lighthouses in the desert, brilliant but utterly pointless" I think they beat the common sense out of most unversity types

Glad you said most lol

both me and the other half have been through the Uni system and between us we have 6 undergrad and post grad qualification between us

but saying that we are both practice enough

[NorthernRaider]

My missus is doing her masters , and I've got a GCSE c grade in art

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A couple of years ago i did a weekend long adventure / survival challange with a large group of third year undegrad types from Durham, some could not even tie a knot, start a basic cooking fire etc, I had both sexes asking where they could plug in hair driers and tongs !! (In Hamsterley forest). In a raft building competition to make a raft from 4 oil drums, planks and rope only the OTC members got anything workable made and it still came apart half way across the pond. The " Grads" were utterly incapable of thinking outside the box.

[Straight Shooter]

I hated going shopping with wifey....( food ) but now i have more time...and its what we do now for FUN n excitement ( sad but true ) and i agree mary its really sad to see what people buy...ready meals...we overheard a couple " i am not cooking this week ....we agreed i am working odd shifts " there you go.... and looking at ready meal counter....i doubt she could cook a meal from scratch...but dressed to kill and full makeup...dear oh dear .....i see alot of this type..my grandaughter stands on a chair and makes bread with granny.....my six grandsons will be on the garden with bampy this year and WILL learn...

[MaryN]

(27 February 2013, 22:15)Straight Shooter Wrote: I hated going shopping with wifey....( food ) but now i have more time...and its what we do now for FUN n excitement ( sad but true ) and i agree mary its really sad to see what people buy...ready meals...we overheard a couple " i am not cooking this week ....we agreed i am working odd shifts " there you go.... and looking at ready meal counter....i doubt she could cook a meal from scratch...but dressed to kill and full makeup...dear oh dear .....i see alot of this type..my grandaughter stands on a chair and makes bread with granny.....my six grandsons will be on the garden with bampy this year and WILL learn...

It's scary. No wonder there are so many social problems. I can't believe how disconnected people are becoming. Well done you for educating the nippers.

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(27 February 2013, 22:05)NorthernRaider Wrote: My missus is doing her masters , and I've got a GCSE c grade in art

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A couple of years ago i did a weekend long adventure / survival challange with a large group of third year undegrad types from Durham, some could not even tie a knot, start a basic cooking fire etc, I had both sexes asking where they could plug in hair driers and tongs !! (In Hamsterley forest). In a raft building competition to make a raft from 4 oil drums, planks and rope only the OTC members got anything workable made and it still came apart half way across the pond. The " Grads" were utterly incapable of thinking outside the box.

I've got to say I can see the funny side of this, but asking where to plug in hair driers..?? Dear oh dear.

[Straight Shooter]

we all called the swinging dicks gang mary...they laugh at the swinging dicks...but we like SAS really

[Highlander]

its not the kids fault either,... its the fault of the education system,.. it seems that the powers that be are all consumed with giving our kids that fine education, yet they have forgotten the lessons in Woodworking, cooking, metal working or needlework, they remove the PE/ games lessons and then sell off the games field

So we end up with finely educated youngsters who have no common sense, who are unfit, and still find themselves out of work because in many cases there isn't the vacancies for the jobs they have spent so long studying for

[MaryN]

(27 February 2013, 22:43)Highlander Wrote: its not the kids fault either,... its the fault of the education system,.. it seems that the powers that be are all consumed with giving our kids that fine education, yet they have forgotten the lessons in Woodworking, cooking, metal working or needlework, they remove the PE/ games lessons and then sell off the games field

So we end up with finely educated youngsters who have no common sense, who are unfit, and still find themselves out of work because in many cases there isn't the vacancies for the jobs they have spent so long studying for

It's really sad, isn't it? It's not as if there are so many choices for youngsters today, and you would think that someone would explain that the more skills you have the more choices are available to you, but evidently this is far too simple a concept for the powers that be. I can just see an upcoming generation of useless young people degenerating into an unemployable mass. They all seem to want to start out as managers, and half of them could barely cope with stacking shelves. Glad I'm not young anymore.