Know anyone who cant use a kettle?

Just heard a shocking fact on the radio, that a certain ammount of teenagers do not know how to use a kettle !

I mean you know it has water in so filling it makes sense, one switch so that must be used to boil it and one plug to plug in. I does not get much simpler than that.

Does anyone genuniely know a teenager who could not do this?

Steve...

 

I've brought up all of my children to be empowered in cooking, cleaning and personal hygiene (especially, personal hygiene!).

When my (now) 18yo began Grammar school and had his first "Food Tech" class ... he had to show the others ....








... how to use a can opener!!! Seriously!

One of Mr Mum's colleagues recounted how, last Father's Day, he visited his 20 something daughter (who had just moved into her first home with her OH); "Aren't you going to offer your ole Dad a coffee?"

"Oh, yeah ... erm ... how do I make it?" Again, I'm serious!!!

There does appear to be a generation of parents who want to be their child's best friend, first and foremost, and not actually 'parent'. I recall one school gate conversation (Primary School) when the "Mum's" were talking about their dear, devoted child/ren; how they are their world and would do *anything* for them. Yup, I'd do a lot for my own, if they were "in need", but, as I pointed out, it is my *job* to get them to 16yo and to be able to be independent of me .. then I can think about being their "friend": after all, you don't see Mr and Mrs Blackbird still caring for their babies once they are old enough to fledge!

All of my children have had household tasks to perform since they were at school (it is how they earned their pocket money). By teens they resented it (bitterly!), after 16yo, they sort of thanked me

One of my older son's is more capable around the house (cooking, cleaning, mending, budgeting, ironing) than his long term OH. She can drink him under the table though

 

I firmly believe that while some teenagers will not know basic things, these amusing stats we hear are just a joke on us.

Think back to when you were a teenager. If someone had asked me how you use a kettle, I'd have been so amused at the question that only sarcasm would provide a suitable answer, 'kettle? what's one of them? No I can't use that'. Would that count in the statistics?

 

That's just the point though, clue - this isn't about when we were teens, this is about today's teens!

 

I don't think they're anywhere near as bad as we're led to believe. When I was a teenager, teenagers were condemned by many just as they are today, and speaking to the likes of my dad, it sounds to me like it was exactly the same then too.

The trouble is, we have a major fault in our society. For some reason we hate our kids. Not when they're little, but from about 13 to about 20, we have a tendency to mock them, blame them for everything and fear them, in other words, isolate them. There's no wonder a minority of them go off the rails when the very people who are supposed to be old enough and wise enough to lead by example, are usually the ones that blame them and isolate them.

 

I agree! they ALL can use a computer so they will find the on/off switch on the kettle too
It might be , though, that they have never used a kettle because Mum is doing all the household chores for them (mums themselves to blame for that )

 

Then you have misunderstood where I am coming from. I do not believe teens are "bad"; I recall a quote published when I was a teen (wish I could remember it!) and it could have been written by a contemporary writer. However, the punchline to that quote was ... it was written in ancient Greek times!

The contemporary issues today are not soley due to the hormones/attitudes of teens per se; it is how society does treat them (on that part we are agreed). However, there are issues prevalent today which, with respect, your father's generation would not have needed to consider to the same degree (I admit, I'm making assumptions on the generation issues here, regarding your age and that of your parents).

I do agree with loveweeds that, if a teen is incapable of working a kettle, then you have look at the parent (not always "Mum's" ), or the person tasked with their welfare/upbringing. And, to a small degree, that is also down to a change in the curriculum when "home economics" declined in favour of "food technology".

Just seems to me that the more we progress (on an IT front) the less empowered in mere daily survival youngsters are becoming. I think that is incredibly sad

 

We do not need a war to bring us to our knee's
Just Gregs, Dominoes and Mac Donalds to close down
I was brought up and self sufficeint as I did my own children

There is a young couple along the road, the baby/2yr lives on Gregs sausage rolls, taken outside the shop at 10:00 all other meals are take aways, and works canteen sandwiches even the tea and coffee, They do not do GROCERIES
They also have no concept of cutting a hedge, or sweeping the front

Jack McH

 

Aesculus blew the office kettle up making his Cactus feed again.

 

Is he still using the toaster to dry seed pods too?

Steve...

 

Trying for a few free pasties are we the Jack?

AND GET 'EM TO BRING BACK THE FLAT CORNISH PASTIES WHILE YOUR AT IT

 

Is it that they don't want to use the kettle ???, how many people will let other people do the work and just sit by a wacht them do it ( mum has always done it for me)

we had one guy at work that would never make a cup of tea/coffee etc, he would always wait for some one to make it, (i would always make my own), well they got fed up with this and they started to spit in his drink

so it pays to know how to do the basic's