Patronising young people at work

[Starland2]

I work in the public sector. We have a lot of graduates. They are all intelligent lovely people but they have such strange approaches to work sometimes. For example I have a job in quite a niche specialism. I love my job and am very experienced. When the younger members of the team find out about what I do they often want to talk about it in great detail and I am happy to do so. A strange thing that keeps happening is that they will then come across people in a similar role in a different organisation. They then “helpfully “ email me and the contact and suggest we meet and chat so I can learn about how they do the job. More often than not I know the contact as it’s a smallish network.

The thing I find strange is why would I need these meetings? I know how to do my job! I think they think they are being helpful but it’s just odd and a bit patronising. You wouldn’t tell a teacher to meet with another teacher to talk about how they do their job!

I think they think it makes them look connected and helpful!?

A lot colleagues often go on about how young the graduates are in front of them. I never do this as it can get annoying for them. At the same time I want them to understand that older colleagues do have more experience!

@Starland2

I work in the public sector. We have a lot of graduates. They are all intelligent lovely people but they have such strange approaches to work sometimes. For example I have a job in quite a niche specialism. I love my job and am very experienced. When the younger members of the team find out about what I do they often want to talk about it in great detail and I am happy to do so. A strange thing that keeps happening is that they will then come across people in a similar role in a different organisation. They then “helpfully “ email me and the contact and suggest we meet and chat so I can learn about how they do the job. More often than not I know the contact as it’s a smallish network.

The thing I find strange is why would I need these meetings? I know how to do my job! I think they think they are being helpful but it’s just odd and a bit patronising. You wouldn’t tell a teacher to meet with another teacher to talk about how they do their job!

I think they think it makes them look connected and helpful!?

A lot colleagues often go on about how young the graduates are in front of them. I never do this as it can get annoying for them. At the same time I want them to understand that older colleagues do have more experience!

As a teacher that wouldn't happen but I have 18 years experience (and look it lol) and in my most recent contact had several young twenty something teachers telling me to let them know if I needed any help whilst on duty.

I put it down to a lack of awareness of what 18 years of experience looks like and still having the enthusiasm to be helpful. But yes very patronising and eye rolly!

To be fair one of them is about the same age as me. I think he's just a twat as he also told me my husband's own business is easy and anyone can do it.

Young people definitely lack confidence, but seldom
in areas with any IT involved. I had a 17 year old try to explain to me how to log off my desktop (I have done this just fine at the end of my shift for over 20 years now). I did get a bit frosty over that.

@frazzledfragglefromfragglerock

What is ur husband's business ?

[quote Hawkins001]@frazzledfragglefromfragglerock

What is ur husband's business ?[/quote]
He's a bicycle mechanics but he specialises in building wheels and bearings. I mean it's not rocket science but you do have to get it right!

@RoyalFamilyFan

I do see more of a reluctance and resistance amongst parents these days for their children to be exposed to difficult history. I wonder if that is part of the reason young adults do seem to know less about shocking events than we did as kids years ago?

It might be that, but I would say that the history teaching in general is very different. It's much more topic oriented rather than linear, and there is a lot less real content across the board.

It's instructive to look at an older history book for children, which will mainly be text based, with some pictures, and a modern one which is usually like an Usborne type book with big pictures and lots of small text boxes. Even something like Our Island Story which people today tend to revile contains more real solid narrative history than a lot of young adults have now.

The reading levels for fiction are also much lower, and that probably has an impact too. Books like those by Rosemary Sutcliffe which at one time might have been read by young teens or even advanced pre-teens are now a struggle even for many older teens. Even though books like that are fiction children glean a lot of history knowledge from them. Not so much from Captain Underpants.

@SantaClawsServiette thanks they are all very good points.
I have noticed on MN disbelief amongst some parents that young teenagers can understand and get a lot out of classic fiction. I read lots of classics between 12-14 years of age and understood them. Of course as an older adult you have more real understanding of narratives involving loss, bereavement, illness, etc. But I certainly was not clueless and identified strongly with some characters.