Mark: It’s all very well saying, as commentators do, that parents should step up and teach kids this stuff, but parents are fighting a strong cultural headwind there … while trying to make a living in a postindustrial economy that leaves them all too little free time. (If the answer is: “Then don’t have kids,” it’s an answer too many people have already figured out: hence the cratering First World fertility rates that you have written so eloquently about.)
As I recall, previous generations of young men didn’t spend Saturday mornings tinkering with cars in the driveway because they’d seen their Dad do it; they did it because their friends & older schoolfellows did it. In child development, unless you’re in a hut on the lone prairie, it’s an ounce of parenting to a pound of peer group pressure.
Also, as commenters have pointed out, tinkering is much harder nowadays. I could do all the basics on my 1960s and 1970s cars — filters, fluids, shocks, even a tune-up. Bodywork dents? Bondo! (Still in business?Yes!) I wouldn’t know where to look on a present-day car, and half the bodywork doesn’t dent, it splinters.
We do our best. My daughter is a keen, fast, and expert knitter. It’s no mean skill, whatever Dr. Johnson thought. My son does well at school woodworking, and has helped me with small household projects.
Mechanically, however, our youth is lost. Couple of years ago I happened to look out of my kitchen window up the driveway to our garage, which was open. My son was standing in there with two of his coevals — three bright, healthy, suburban mid-teen boys. They were standing around a bicycle looking lost. I went out to see what was up.
They wanted to take the front wheel off the bicycle, but couldn’t figure out how, in spite of the fact that one of them was holding the correct-size wrench in his hand!
I sprang the brakes, removed the holding nut, and slid the front wheel out of its fork. They looked at me as if I’d split the atom.
There are some valiant warriors fighting to keep basic mechanical skills alive. Here’s one, and here’s another. It’s a rearguard action, though. The owl of Minerva takes flight at dusk.
Mike Rowe deserves a Congressional Freedom Medal for the work he's doing to highlight the nobility of work...
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseAnother thought as to why today's young men (and, perhaps, young women) are not as "mechanically minded" as earlier generations: I learned a lot from my father about mechanical things and repair work, and, in general, how things work.
However, I learned perhaps as much about mechanical things from summer jobs. I worked summers in home construction as a carpenter's helper. I also worked summers at an amusement park operating the rides, but also lubricating the mechanical works and preparing the rides for operation. It was through foremen and experienced and skilled craftsmen that my (poorly-learned) building skills and rough mechanical skills were gained.
Try getting your teenager a summer job in construction these days...
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseHuzzah for Mike Rowe (also an Eagle Scout, I'd like to note), and for John Ratzenberger, who is part of Center for America when he's not voicing a role in another Pixar movie.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"I sprang the brakes"
THANK YOU! More than half the population goes straight to "sprung" in this context.
Also, I was able to swap out the radiator on my 1979 Corolla all by myself (my girly self) because it was held in place by a mere four bolts and a hose (no A/C).
Woe betide me if I try to do that with my 1997 vehicle.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseRather than giving Mike Rowe a medal, I see him as a symptom of the disease. Instead of doing actual work, youth today watches reality TV of people AT WORK. Something about the modern generation, whose members would rather watch a crab fisherman than actually fish, will watch an auction but never attend one, much less buy anything with profit in mind, is troubling to me.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI'm just sayin'.
Scouts.
I'm biased. I'm a Cubmaster. My boys do woodworking, go hiking, learn the value of conservation, learn to shoot airguns and archery, learn to whip rope, start a fire and cook a meal, etc.
It takes an active parent. This type of stuff interests boys naturally if you provide minimal safety and training and let them experiment.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseLooks like the Girl Scouts are trying to do something similar. In honor of the 100 year annivesary, they have changed what and how they will be teaching the girls.
Instead of more amorphous things, there is going to be conservation (and I hope not AGW crud) as well as finances - making a budget, running a business, and yes, even cooking (egads, how sexist, right? LOL!).
I applaud what you teach the boys and I'm glad my girls will be learning more practical things (with my tutelage as well, of course).
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseYou may want to do some research on the Girl Scouts. They're a separate organization and, lately, they've been going off the ranch. I think NRO ran something about it recently and compared them to the Heritage Girls (whom the BSA is affiliated with).
External Link
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseWhat on earth did I do to that poor sentence?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseWhen I was in Scouts we got to fire real guns: .22 target rifles and shotgun skeet shooting.
Mostly Boy Scouts (not Cub), but I'm pretty sure my first trip to a firing range was with Webelos!
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI'm fairly certain Boy Scouts fire .22s as part of their events (boys organize them, after all). I still have three more years as Cubmaster before my youngest crosses over to Boy Scouts.
We use beebee guns at the Cub level. Now, as parents, we have non-Scout activities that include the same boys. We go to state ranges and fire .22s. I recently purchased a Rossi .22, breach load, for my sons to get more shooting experience. I mounted an optic on it and have to do some hammer extension, but it's easier to wield than my .22 and provides instant feedback to them on their shots.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseCorrect, Boy Scouts shoot real firearms. Long guns, that is. Venture Scouts (coed, age 14 and up) get to handle handguns.
Now, if only BSA wasn't so wimpy with their "thou shalt bring no firearms of your own to any Scouting function," I, as a firearms-license-carrying adult, wouldn't have to break one of the tenants of the Scout Law when we're out in the wilderness.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseDon't break any tenants! They didn't do anything wrong! [I think you meant tenets...]
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseSince we're all doomed and can't do anything about it, who gives a hoot?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseYouTube, surprisingly, is a boon here. As are how-tos all over the Internet. There's a builder and crafter movement out there - underground to an extent, quasi-hipster (but in a good way) - but encouragingly it seems to be driven by youth. Every little bit helps.
But this piecemeal "just in time" approach to learning has huge limits.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseIt's not nearly so glum a picture as Derb paints. There's a huge DIY movement online that has spawned hundreds of local offline groups, of all sizes, of people who are passionate about making stuff that works.
We're in Silicon Valley, but there are local variants and in some cases offshoots of the best of these groups.
Start with Tim O'Reilly's "MAKE"-branded online/offline tech media properties, workshops, online videos etc - here's a link to the magazine: External Link
(fwiw, the "Makerfaire" festivals held each year in Silicon Valley, New York and Detroit are not impressive - lots of aging hippies showcasing pointless Rube Goldberg contraptions, though there are bound to be some cute chicks with fascinating tattoos).
Another version of this is the "hackerspace" movement - here's the SF version that comprises an "electronics lab, machine shop, sewing/crafting supplies, two classrooms, conference area, library, darkroom, and kitchen. Everyone is welcome to use our many resources. Find others to create with. Find help with your projects. Help others with their projects. Learn, teach, share. Come to Noisebridge and create!"
External Link
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI spend a lot of time with my two sons (aged 12 and 10), and boy scouts, and I note a diffidence in their approach to any work that involves mechanical know-how (or learn-how).
Much of the tech they deal with on a daily basis has simplified their lives to an extraordinary degree. Cars are one example, and I can names six household items that contain computers now that didn't when I was a teen (ca. 1970s): furnace, a/c, tv, fridge, microwave, telephone-- not to mention home computers, PDAs, and all the accessories that go with them).
As I say, the computer components simplify the operation of these devices, but at the expense of appreciating how the damned things actually work.
To hearken to Derb's experience with his son's bike, I have demonstrated the changing of a tire/tube to each of my sons at least half a dozen times, step-by-step. I shudder at the idea of them relying on their own abilities to change a tire, though!
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThe simultaneous bursting of housing, college-degree, and general economic bubbles will generate a lot of 20 and 30-something DIYers.
Whether they want to or not.
Poverty is a great motivator.
As a gen-X-er born at the tail of the baby boom, I will definitely enjoy watching the "self-esteem" generation - raised by narcissist Boomers in their own image - recycle all the "back to the earth/simple living" memes that the Boomers played at. Only the poor young turks will be doing it for real... as they pay off the Boomers pensions....
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseIt's funny this comes up. I have a 2002 Saturn and everything is manual, including the seat adjuster.
It snapped a few weeks ago and I can't move the seat up anymore. Being short, it makes it impossible for me to drive. I'd love to be able to fix it myself because it appears to be such a simple thing - a long thick wire and a hook and a spring. But I'll have to take it in for them to do it because I can't get to the location very well (the backseat is an extremely small area, especially with a seat pushed all the way back) and the seat will likely have to be removed in order to do it.
I'm also reminded of this: My mother's brother always took care of his own car. He never took it to the shop. I watched him pull apart the entire engine of his car, clean it and put it back together again.
Unfortunately I get my mechanical skills from my dad - zilch. And his dad was a carpenter! My dad and I got the same score on the mechanical part of the ASFAB test. He was told he could do anything in the Army, just stay out of the motor pool! LOL!
Perhaps it's not only about teaching and learning, but about natural ability and genetics.
;-D
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseWell, take the seat out then. Just kneel down and look under it with a flashlight (and perhaps hand mirror if you have a stiff neck). It is probably just four bolts. And maybe a snap apart electrical connector for the seat belt sensor. You'll have it out in less time than it takes to drive to the dealer. It's not like you're tuning the engine or anything; it is just lefty loosey, righty tighty. The biggest obstacle is believing you can do even it despite your poor ASVAB score.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse