Kids of today….

[V8Granite]

Old man rant….

I’m currently teaching 3 Norwegian kids, they seem pretty sound, start on time, seem to be listening and at least semi interested.

But….

Can’t start work without an energy drink, Monster and Battery ones.
Can’t seem to tolerate getting oily. Apparently oil on skin causes cancer they’ve been told.
Seem genuinely interested in how they look, lots of adjusting clothes, phone checks on the hair etc.
Surprisingly weak, I don’t think they get as much hands on time as before.

Certain things they are much better than my generation, controls side, software but not really wiring and especially not mechanical.

It feels a bit like they are being set up to fail as the work itself is still physically hard. They aren’t getting given the time to toughen up a bit and get some bruises and sore muscles.

It’s one step closer to more replacing stuff instead of repairing stuff.

Dave!

[dinny_g]

My observation with "Kids" is that they don't seem to have any inclination to learn things for themselves. If someone doesn't show them, they can't do it.

Things like changing a tyre, changing a plug - basic things we learned by watching others and then having a go with a healthy dose of common sense seem beyond the youth of today

[Rich B]

child labour is “frowned apon” Dave.

[Beany]

Literally every generation complains about this, literally every generation seems to end up just fine.

The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise

What's that from, the 60s? the '20s?

No, that's a summary of the general opinion of adults of the 'youth of today' from ancient fucking greece.

Edit:Apparently that quote is misattributed to socrates and I'm a bit off with that and I don't have time to fix properly before a meeting but there are plenty of examples of the ancient greeks pissing and moaning about kids - that's how far back it goes.

[ZedLeg]

Toxins from oil can be absorbed through the skin Dave.

As Beany said this is a moan as old as humanity. People forget what they were like at 20 and expect kids to act like grumpy old men.

[mik]

The youths of today has got lots to say
It's our life
It's our future
Because we're living today
So don't blame the youth

[Rich B]

The youths of today has got lots to say
It's our life
It's our future
Because we're living today
So don't blame the youth

No, I don't know why you're not there
I give you my love, but you don't care
So what is right and what is wrong?
Give me a sign

[V8Granite]

Toxins from oil can be absorbed through the skin Dave.

As Beany said this is a moan as old as humanity. People forget what they were like at 20 and expect kids to act like grumpy old men.

Yes but it’s an oily job, it has to and will happen daily. You can’t do some aspects of the job without putting oil on your skin.

I remember being a green apprentice, I just remember a lot more physical work.

Dave!

[V8Granite]

When I say kid I mean about 20, it feels like they haven’t been exposed to what the job actually entails, which is the fault of folk my age.

Dave!

[ZedLeg]

Toxins from oil can be absorbed through the skin Dave.

As Beany said this is a moan as old as humanity. People forget what they were like at 20 and expect kids to act like grumpy old men.

Yes but it’s an oily job, it has to and will happen daily. You can’t do some aspects of the job without putting oil on your skin.

Some would say it isn’t acceptable to have an expectation of skin contact with toxins and the company should be supplying appropriate ppe .

[Jobbo]

Why don't you ask them to wear nitrile gloves?

Anyway, I bet they speak English fluently despite it being their second language.

[V8Granite]

Oddly the Phillipino speaks excellent English but the 2 Norwegians not much at all. Which certainly isn’t common as most people I work with speak the queens English more accurately than I do.

Nitrile won’t cut it, you have to feel with your skin when installing bearings as it’s a final check of cleanliness. As stuff is so heavy you lose that with Nitrile gloves on.

It’s a well trodden argument with Health and Safety people who don’t have a clue what they are on about.

Amazingly, unless you wear rubber all in one suits if you work on an oily engine, you get oily.

I fully expect to be getting told what to do by them in 10 years

Dave!

[Carlos]

It's not a bad thing, I'm sure it easier to teach a youngster some spannering than it is a 50 something to test PCBs

My 19yr old daughter is an engineer and has worked with auto lines and automation since she was 15 and still gets surprised that an old dude can't diagnose faults using a wiring diagram/schematic.

ETA - Do you use barrier cream?

[V8Granite]

No barrier cream, it doesn’t soak in so I can’t hold anything.

Just wash properly and that’s it.

They changed wiring diagrams about 20 years ago and your daughter is right it’s surprising how some people can’t follow them. I prefer the old style but the new line diagram ones are very logical.

Dave!

[Swervin_Mervin]

It's easy to think all kids are like this but it's certainly not the case. One example - my lad loves watching the Mr Hewes channel and it's great to see that so many of the lads on there are in their early 20s and already have an almost intuitive understanding of whatever military/agricultural vehicle etc that they're ripping apart or fixing.

[nuttinnew]

The youths of today has got lots to say
It's our life
It's our future
Because we're living today
So don't blame the youth

No, I don't know why you're not there
I give you my love, but you don't care
So what is right and what is wrong?
Give me a sign

Slong bong biddley bong

[jamcg]

One big change I see in my scouts- aged 10-14- there’s been a big drop in information retention, when you look at it as a skill.

When we show them how to tie a knot they’ll pick it up pretty easily, the simplest example a reef knot- left over right and under, right over left and under. We show them that a couple of times, get them to a point they can do it unaided, switch onto others and come back to it at the end of the night and they could tie it in their sleep. Come back to it the following week “what’s a reef knot?” And you end up teaching from square one.


Don’t even get me started on map reading and compasses, it’s no wonder mountain rescue are busy all the time

[V8Granite]

It's easy to think all kids are like this but it's certainly not the case. One example - my lad loves watching the Mr Hewes channel and it's great to see that so many of the lads on there are in their early 20s and already have an almost intuitive understanding of whatever military/agricultural vehicle etc that they're ripping apart or fixing.

At work we call them farming stock, just interested in stuff and happy to go in, learn from mistakes and keep going.

Dave!

[dinny_g]

Just to be clear, they want to work with Industrial Diesel Engines but don’t want to get oil on their hands???

That is modern life in a nutshell and why the world’s fucked!!

[ZedLeg]

I think there’s a very simple misunderstanding here as far as the oil thing.

I have no problem getting oily working on something. I would have an issue with my work expecting me to regularly cover my hands in carcinogens with no protection.

Making sure processes are safe in the workplace isn’t the employee’s problem.