Students

[Shakey]

A question for all:

Have you ever used a calculator?   

I know I have, in fact I use one daily.   

Does that put me in the same category as this younger generation you speak of? 

[69-DodgeCharger]

Actually, I didnt have a calculator for the Math portion of the ACT Test, but I managed to finish most of the questions, and still got a score of 21 as an overall score on the test

[Mean 318]

I know you never mentioned me Arthur, it just seems like its turning into a bash on our generation. I also feel that this thread is degrading fast!

[Old Moparz]

By the time someone makes it to high school, chances are they already have their study habits. Kind of like how a personality is defined as an adult & it's difficult to change your ways, good or bad. Maybe the younger generation has more access to computers, ipods & other forms of high tech devices, but laziness & irresponsibility really does come down to how they were raised. Parents still account for the bulk of the problem, or lack of the problem.

A few years ago I met a college kid with a Charger in CT when I was picking up an engine block. He worked 2 jobs, went to school full time, & still worked on his Charger. The area he lived in was upper middle class & could easily give the impression he was spoiled. He wasn't, & it was pretty impressive to see his attitude considering the way some people end up.

My wife's nephew is roughly 25 years old. He has good computer skills & knowledge of building websites, but he's cleaning up debris on construction sites & getting fired for not showing up because he slept late or just didn't show up for work. His mother & father are divorced & have been since he was very young. The mother is an alcoholic & never disciplined or taught him much in the way of becoming an adult. The father moved away & barely existed, so he didn't show him anything either.

It's difficult to say that younger people are lazier now than years ago, because I think it's still basically the same, just a different setting. I saw students I went to college with in the early 1980's that were just like the 2 examples I gave. Some graduated with good grades & got decent jobs while others floundered & ended up lost. The funniest, yet saddest example, was a guy in one of my design classes in architecture. It took him 2 full semesters to learn how to read the ruler (Architect's scale) before he finally gave up.