jbud2

This past week, my husband and I were at farm exposition. We had paused to figure out where we were and a boy of about 10 years walked to me and asked what time it was. I said "twenty of one." The boy looked at me and said he didn't know what that was. My husband quickly said 12:50 and the boy said thanks and went on his way. My husband said to me that kids probably only know "digital time", like on cell phones and computers. Geez, it's good I didn't show him my watch - it just has dots where the numbers would on a clock face!!

May in Jersey

I'm an oldie so twenty of one makes a whole lot of sense to me, and I can tell time even if the clock doesn't have numbers, LOL!

kathy

twenty of one and twelve fifty aren't the same time......are they?

Barb in Louisiana

Nope.... Twenty of one is 12:40. Wonder if the boy was early for something???? These days, I am surprised he didn't have an iPod or cellphone. That's where I go to get my time.

jbud2

Ok, I typed it out too quickly!! the boy understood Twelve forty, but not twenty to one!

nursie76

Lol! I remember when my daughter was a young teen. Her friend was supposed to be dropped off at our place at 7:20 PM or 20 after. They were late and my daughter was kept running around looking out the windows saying, "'Where is she? She was supposed to be here at 20, she promised she would be here at 20...." go figure. I do know that she had a real hard time learning to tell time with an analog clock. We then realized that the only thing we had in the house (including our watches) were digital. lol

Sheila_H

I'm retired military so I go by military time just out of habit.I guess kids do not learn the way we used to "when the big hand is on 1 and the little hand is on 6 the time is" I'd be surprised if they would know looking at the dots or dashes, its just another thing that will become obsolete like so many other things of our younger days

Scraps

Our grandchildren are 12 and 10 and they can keep time both ways due to schooling and parents. Don't forget they live in the age of technology - doesn't make it or them wrong - just a different time. Excuse the pun :-)

lynnie

Sad,isn't it.
our youth scares me. I'm 53 and my son is22 and i get that quizzical
look from him also.

MattieMae

Kids today aren’t expected to learn to read an analog clock, or an actual map, or do arithmetic, spell correctly, use proper grammar, or write cursive. Many students graduate high school without the skills an eighth grader used to have. They aren’t required because of calculators, computers, and political correctness.

I always thought that practicing grammar, arithmetic and writing cursive was a good way to teach persistence and discipline. I was recently told that participating in sports does the same thing.