Teenagers!

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

I am positively hopeful for the future on the basis of the young people I meet. Most take their education seriously, are lively and well socialised and are oriented to learning what they need to know to make their lives a well rounded success. They make a very strong contrast with the older people I encountered on entering the UK workforce, Dull, conformist, lacking inagination, in a narrow mental rut, and giving no impression of any enjoyment of life: with the relatively few who truly shone because they clearly were alive from the neck up.

 

As already above; some discussion of the what, the how, and any instruction or demonstration required for the specific how to, and I shall be surprised if they disappoint.

[Mad McCann]

I don't doubt there are some seriously poorly performing youngsters, of the 40 I mentioned I can name one who I'd rather had left and drags the rest of us down, I know they exist. Likewise I know the number of cynical people in the generations prior to my own to be equally small (not accusing anyone here)

I appreciate the support I've gotten from many of you and challenge the rest, in a good natured way,to consider changing their outlook on the majority of us who would rather not be looked down upon because a small minority are a "bad batch"

 

 

Never apologise for being yourself, buddy; if you're a decent, honest and humane person who does their best to make the world a better place for all, that's good enough. It's the best advice I can ever give to any young person and it's drawn from my own life experience apart from trying to find work that you enjoy. 

 

 The problems begin when people try to be someone they're not and I know that because I've been there personally and professionally in my younger days. It took me a while to realise it but it did eventually dawn on me. I went for a job for the biggish pay cheque and I spent 22 not terribly happy years as one of ejstubbs' 'concious incompetents', doing all I could to survive in a field I was never really cut out for. It took a mental and physical toll but I stuck it out long enough to get to an age where I could take a lump sum and a modest monthly pension that would get me by as long as I still worked part time. 

 

That's where I'm at now; I took a job on the buses three days a week and I absolutely love it.  It combines a whole load of skillsets drawn from every job I've done in my life and it still gives me a life off the pitch. Find something you love doing and try not to fall into the money trap! The world of work is going to change like never before during your lifetime and you may not have the opportunities that some earlier generations had so take your time and find the thing that suits you best, but try and learn as many 'hands-on' skills as you can because they will always come in handy through life and you're never too old to learn new ones. Only in the last month I've learned how to put up concrete fencing and do pointing - I'm about to lay a concrete and brick foundation for a new shed!

 

Davy.

[ddoherty958]

I'm very happy to wish you all the best with that. If everyone was a railway modeller, practical skills would be far more common.

Thanks!

[Ian Smeeton]

"At 16, I was amazed at how little my Father knew.

 

At 21 I was astonished at how much he had learned."

 

Anon

 

Regards

 

Ian

[ddoherty958]

"At 16, I was amazed at how little my Father knew.

 

At 21 I was astonished at how much he had learned."

 

Anon

 

Regards

 

Ian

Yeah. Me and my dad are kinda doing it together but I’m in charge. Oh dear

[pete_mcfarlane]

The danger with quoting that is that it makes it easy to dismiss any actual changes that have occurred. Children have always behaved like that, the question is to what degree does it tail off with age, and has that remained constant.

Hopefully they are better behaved than in Socrates' day, since he's no longer around to corrupt their minds. 

[Compound2632]

A wallop with a big stick normally works but my understanding it isn't allowed any more. So give them a reason to do something, a goal and a reward. It is bit like training a dog.

 

What I said, but expressed more succinctly.

 

Three other points to bear in mind:

 

1. It's very hot

2. They're at the end of a long and particularly demanding school term.

3. They're children - they deserve fun.

[jjb1970]

In terms of career advice, my best advice is to study a subject you love, but, also consider future value and then try and find a job you enjoy. If you enjoy something you'll tend to perform better, make the effort required to advance and the money should look after itself. Personally I think work is too big a part of life not to enjoy if you are able to get a job you like.

 

I find that in many ways the younger generation have a much better attitude to studying and work than my own did. And when I look back I find many of the attitudes of my parents generation which they tried to impart to the next generation quite sad. Maybe it is because I grew up in a working class area of a northern inner(-ish) city area but most parents were doing the job they'd started on leaving school and which they planned to do until they left the work force and encouraged their children to set this as their own aspiration for life.

 

Then when I went into the sixth form my teachers were at the opposite extreme. When I did a merchant navy cadetship rather than going to university I was written off as a fool wasting my life and potential. OK I recognise that joining the merchant navy as an engineering cadet is a bit of a niche choice and not for everybody but I had a great time at sea and had a lot of experiences I wouldn't otherwise have had. When I left the sea I did my university studies as a mature student and the combination of practical shop floor experience and an academic education is quite a good one in my industry and I've enjoyed a good career since coming ashore.

[rob D2]

Perfect apprentice material

[NittenDormer]

If everyone was a railway modeller, practical skills would be far more common.

I'm not sure spending too long in the shed/garage/attic, arguing over rivets, spending far too much money on toys and making small copies of big things is necessarily the traditional definition of 'practical'.

[Peter Kazmierczak]

Thank goodness I spend my working days in a primary school. The children certainly keep you young at heart; probably my mental age too.

 

Oh, and I'm off now until September...…….

[brianusa]

I was a fifties type teenager, pre rock and roll, but still my father insisted that our music was 'rubbish'!  This was Sinatra, Darin, Guy Mitchell and Rosemary Clooney mind you, hardly noisy.  He also wondered where I was heading for with my longish hair, trendy clothes (in the fifties?)) and yellow socks, etc.  As he was a police inspector, he had rigid ideas about teenagers of the era but latterly he mellowed a bit.  He let me have the car which was  certainly cool in those days which enabled visits to far distant pubs with girl friends.  Really cool!

As we both grew older and my mother died we became almost equals but then I left home to come over here.

 

Brian.

[Ozexpatriate]

One of this lot wants to be an engineer (his mother is a senior weapons engineer working for MoD). He seems incapable of unscrewing a hose from a tap.

Maybe he will be a brilliant cyber security engineer one day?

[Ben Alder]

"At 16, I was amazed at how little my Father knew.

 

At 21 I was astonished at how much he had learned."

 

Anon

 

Regards

 

Ian

 

Mark Twain, source of many aphorisms and general insight into life...

“When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.”

― Mark Twain

 

[Ozexpatriate]

Mark Twain, source of many aphorisms and general insight into life...

“When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.”

― Mark Twain

It's a great quote with unclear provenance.

 

From here.

 

Disputed

• When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant, I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.
  • Not found in Twain's works, this was attributed to him in Reader's Digest (September 1939): no prior attribution known.

Like many great but difficult to attribute quotes:

 

The traditions of the Royal Navy ... are nothing but rum, s0d0my, (prayers) and the lash ... "I never said it. I wish I had.” - WSC (allegedly)

When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross ... not Sinclair Lewis

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results ... not Albert Einstein

Failing to plan is planning to fail ... not Benjamin Franklin

 

etc.

Edited July 27, 2018 by Ozexpatriate

[Ben Alder]

No matter what, it does summarise teen years aptly for many.

[bike2steam]

I'm very happy to wish you all the best with  that. If everyone was a railway modeller, practical skills would be far more common.

 

I dunno, I know a couple of mature gentlemen 'box-openers' who call themselves 'railway modellers', but couldn't wire up a mains plug if asked. Sometimes it ain't just the kids that are lacking.

[eastglosmog]

We take work experience teenagers for a week one at a time (we are only a small company), usually 3-4 a year.  Most of them are very keen and learn a lot during the process, which is the main point.  Sometimes they even do some useful work!  The general idea, though, is to enthuse the new generation in the delights of geotechnical engineering.

[polybear]

Hi Joseph

 

A wallop with a big stick normally works but my understanding it isn't allowed any more. So give them a reason to do something, a goal and a reward. It is bit like training a dog.

 

First tip:  Take their 'effin fones off 'em and lock them away for the day.....

Edited July 27, 2018 by polybear

[sem34090]

I think one main issue with my generation is that many of them seem to be unwilling to listen to older folk, refuse to engage with them.

 

But I suspect I'm generalising here - needless to say a lot of them would be much better for not being glued to a smartphone 24 hours a day...

[Welly]

First tip:  Take their 'effin fones off 'em and lock them away for the day.....

The fones or them teenagers? 

[Welly]

I think one main issue with my generation is that many of them seem to be unwilling to listen to older folk, refuse to engage with them.

When I was a teenager 30 odd years ago, I wasn't willing to engage with or listen to older folk either - it has always been thus!

 

Wait until you get to my age! 

Edited July 27, 2018 by Welly

[jjb1970]

I think one main issue with my generation is that many of them seem to be unwilling to listen to older folk, refuse to engage with them.

 

But I suspect I'm generalising here - needless to say a lot of them would be much better for not being glued to a smartphone 24 hours a day...

It's not your generation per se, I think every generation is the same for those few years. And in some ways it'd be unhealthy if it was any different, it's a phase we go through and then grow out of, whilst it is generally perceived somewhat negatively it is part of growing up and we are all shaped by our life experiences (both good and bad).

[Black Marlin]

I'm only partly joking: the use of the term "engineer" for anyone who can manage to hold a screwdriver the right way round is a perpetual source of annoyance for [some] professionally qualified engineers.  However, it cannot be denied that a degree of practical experience, if not necessarily proficiency, is useful in many professional engineering disciplines.  OTOH it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if, for example, there were at least a few automotive engineers who can't actually drive.  A good many engineers these days probably have more practical

expertise in using a computer than they do in wielding physical tools.

 

I have an MA (Hons) in English Literature. I have an MLitt in Irish & Scottish Studies (basically literature, but leavened with some funky linguistic shenanigans). I have a PhD [pending] in English Literature. 

 

And yet, my job title is Senior Quality Engineer.

 

It reminds me a little of the following exchange in the original Muppet Movie: 

[Gonzo]: "I'm going to Bombay, India, to become a movie star!"

[Fozzy]: "Why not go to Hollywood? That's what we're doing."

[Gonzo]: "Oh, sure, if you want to do it the easy way..."

 

Not every engineer needs to use a screwdriver, and the qualifications required for those other forms of engineering can be just as arduous to obtain.

 

Regards, 

Gavin

[Reorte]

First tip:  Take their 'effin fones off 'em and lock them away for the day.....

That applies to almost everyone now, not just teenagers.