Things you can’t believe your teenager doesn’t know

[Annoyingwurringnoise]

My teenage DS, who went to a Church of England primary school, does not know the song Little Donkey. I am utterly perplexed as to how this can possibly be. He’s been a donkey twice in nativity plays, once at preschool and once at school, but he swears he doesn’t remember Little Donkey.

What things have you found out your teenagers don’t know that’s just left you scratching your head in disbelief?

But many people live far from it.

In the UK??? - it's an island, just like NZ and yet no-one here would say they live far from the coast.

Have a look at the map of New Zealand and have a look at the UK

I've been to New Zealand - quite a lot of communities live on the coast.

Not like in the UK.

We also have much busier roads and motorways.

And the sea is cold and there are waves and.... things... in it that you can't see.

Whereas in the med, it's clear and warm and you can float about and there are just fish. No jellyfish and shits.

I've been to New Zealand - quite a lot of communities live on the coast.

And quite a lot don't. Accord to Google the furtherest place from the sea in the UK is 70 miles - hardly a huuge distance!!!

I live 100 yards from the beach, in the UK. Loads of people live by the sea, here!

Old Madonna or new Madonna. To be fair, I saw a new Madonna pic and had no clue who she was. She is completely unrecognisable

Leeds - Scarborough. 70 miles. How long do you think that takes during summer? On a nice hot day

Birmingham - Bristol?
Sheffield - Skegness?
Northampton - ?

I guess Londoners head down the motorway to the South Coast. Brighton gets very busy in summer.

It's not like New Zealand. Just take a look at the UK. The roads are busy, congested.

Obviously people do live near the coast here but it's really not like the culture in Australia or New Zealand. It is for some people.

We have Scarborough near us. The cold North Sea.

I live 19 miles from the south coast. It’s tidal so you need to plan your swim in advance. Portsmouth and Southsea is all pebbles. You can swim but given the amount of shipping in the area I am dubious about water quality. You also need to pay to park once you are luckily enough to find a space.
The nearest “nice” beach is West Wittering about 25 miles. That costs £8 because it’s private - well access to the beach is ( you can argue it but given you can’t park nearer you have little choice. You see people sadly waiting for a bus that doesn’t come …my next point). It famously appears in the newspaper every year because the queue to get in is hours long.
So yes lots of people live near the sea but logistically find it hard to go swimming.

And most New Zealanders live in coastal cities.
About a 1/3 of the population live in Auckland.

Which has some amazing beaches.

@lightisnotwhite - I live 17 kms inland, but it is too dangerous to swim along the coastline here so we have to travel to either of our nearest cities to swim in the sea - and plenty of people do so. My town is very empty today - as most people have headed off to somewhere with water to spend their break. Anyway, all this talk about how difficult it is to swim at a beach hardly matters, as my original post was to merely contradict a poster who said "but many people live far from it" (the sea). If you all want to live in a country where a jouney of 70 miles takes the best part of a week who am I to judge.

Anyway, all this talk about how difficult it is to swim at a beach hardly matters, as my original post was to merely contradict a poster who said "but many people live far from it" (the sea). If you all want to live in a country where a jouney of 70 miles takes the best part of a week who am I to judge

No contradiction here. It's not New Zealand where most people live in coastal cities. 70 miles in the UK is a long way. That's 140 miles return.

Unlike Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch which are coastal cities.

So in the UK, most people do not live near the sea.

@magicthree

Compare and contrast

Actually think confidence in the water and ability to swim is an essential life skill, the younger the better, could save a life.

It’s also not the lack of swimming that kills people. The non swimmers avoid open water. It’s lack of understanding of sea, cold or depth.

I'm a non-swimmer. As a child, I had lessons for two years... at the end of each year, I was the only kid in the class who couldn't swim a width. As an adult, I took a class at the Y - swimming lessons for adults who are scared of the water. Same result, at the end of the course they gave me a Guppy certificate, and suggest I stay on dry land.

And that's what I do - stay on dry land. The chance of me falling out of a boat or off a dock is zero.

I live in Uk and swim in the sea for about six months of the year. Some brave souls swim all year round. Cold water, open water swimming is becoming quite a trend. There are many sea swimming clubs springing up. Also, now what is trending are pictures of babies being taught to swim/float before they can even walk. Water confidence for children is essential.

I grew up near the coast in the UK. Everyone of my friends could swim. We were in and out of the sea all summer and well into the autumn. Many Brits, especially those who don't live by the coast, go to the coast or somewhere hot for summer holidays and go swimming in the warmer waters so I do think swimming lessons are essential.

Doesn't matter how much open water there is if you can't access swimming lessons in the first place as the council have closed many of the pools, a d the restrictive timetables, plus waiting lists and costs.

In state schools where I live you don't get swimming lessons till P6 (age 9/10?) By this time you get to that age those who can't swim are massively self conscious, plus puberty is kicking in so they're much less keen to wander about in swimming costumes. It needs to be done earlier.

NZ is nothing like the U.K. Population NZ - about 5 million. Population of U.K. - pushing 70 million.

42 and dont know the national anthem. I’m not especially anti-royal but I’ve never had any reason in my life to care what the words are so have never really took it in!

So sorry if this has already been said, but one of the lines of the song Little Donkey is “Little Donkey, Little Donkey, had a busy day, Little Donkey ,carry Mary safely on her way”
So your Mum was close!

BeavisMcTavish would you recognise the National Anthem if you heard it played?

HEAVY day. Again.

Is it at all possible there are two versions of Little Donkey, one which says 'busy day' and another that says 'heavy?'