Do young people today have difficulty telling the time on analogue clocks?

[Draconis]

I've heard this from a couple of people now and wondered how much truth there is in it

Yes. From around 2012, I noticed it.

Many schools have spent a significant sum (£350-600 each) on large digital clocks for public exams, as it's disadvantaging a huge number of kids to be banned from wearing watches but not have any way of telling how much time they have left.

Telling the time is on the national curriculum for KS1. That’s not the point. The issue is that unless children then reinforce that skill through daily use of an analogue clock they will very quickly lose it and there are far fewer analogue clocks around these days.

My younger colleagues can't use analogue equipment tbh. Some of the very youngest struggle with the clock, let alone specific types of meter/caliper/gauge with a needle and a dial rather than than digital output. I'm 40...

I was just thinking this. You can see 15 minutes or half an hour on an analogue clock, and once you've gained the skill of understanding how long that is, you've always got it if you're checking the time on a digital clock.

How do you gain that skill in the first place without being able to tell the time on an analogue?

Is this why kids (and me) can spend an hour on TikTok and swear down it was 10 minutes?

Yep l was shocked at work when l told a 21 year old they had until 6.45 to do something...she said she didn't have her phone ..so l said there is a clock right there on wall..then she said she can't tell time on clocks. Never knew it was a thing...

My immediate reaction was...so what?

Surely analogue clocks won't be around for that much longer. We're in our 40s and don't have any.

But such a good point about clockwise and anti-clockwise!

I think watches have come back into fashion a bit now they can be used more for other things E.g. fitness trackers, sending messages.

They became much less common among teens and under 30s for a while as phones became more ubiquitous. My current watch is the first one I’ve had in 15+ years.

I'm 31 and I struggle with digital clocks, you know when it's 24 hours.
I have to think when I see it and work it out in my head. 😂
Analogue is a piece of cake for me.

@cyncope

But the skill is needed. Our wrist watches are analogue, the clock on the wall is analogue, the clock towers, at some stations etc ... how can you not know (sn's aside)

Every classroom I've been to has a big clock on the wall. Do children not use them to see how long til break, lunchtime and home? I was forever clock watching for these things.

I've just asked DD11 and DS9 and they both said "duh, of course!"

I'm 38 and can't read them!

What’s interesting though is although many can’t read analogue clocks they can read a 24 hour digital clock fine and can do that instant thing of “translating” 14.00 to 2 o’clock or 22.00 to 10 o’clock etc.
No one says “I will meet you outside the front at 16” they say “I will meet you at 4”. Or at train stations the sign will say “next train to blah 17.37” and they will say “the train is 37 past 5”.

They put their hand up and ask how long is left 😅

I’m currently teaching my 5 year old as he has a proper watch and I do think it’s something everyone should learn. He’s got the hang of on the hour, half past and quarter past and to. But the rest does kind of rely on understanding the 5 times table which they don’t teach in reception so having to learn that first. I don’t think either of my teenage step children can do it though as they were never taught.

Watches are indeed more ubiquitous but in my experience teens choose the smallest possible digital clock face in order to maximise the space for other widgets so they can check their messages in class

I'm 38 and struggle with analogue clocks. Well it takes me a moment or two. But I think it's the verbal processing? So I can glance at a clock and know the time. But if I need to say it out loud it takes a moment or two, and I often say e.g. quarter past when I mean quarter too. Or quarter to 7 when it's quarter to 8.

Actually I also really struggle with 24 hr clocks. e.g. I'll say 15:00 is 5pm. Then I might over compensate and say oh, sorry, no its 1pm. So maybe I'm just an idiot.

I think they do, my 10 year cannot tell the time on an analogue clock, I think my oldest DC can (mid teens) but not sure if middle DC is able to. Everything in their world is digital.

I remember at primary school they spent weeks on trying to get us to tell the time. Whereas my son got about 3 days of teaching on this. Honestly, I think they just zip through the curriculum so quickly these days....

Gosh I thought everyone would say you are being ridiculous. My young one uses the normal clock but I guess when he's a teen that's probably when it stops once they get used to phones etc

Our school did that. Cost them £800. But I believe the exam board stopped it and said it had to be an analogue clock.

It really is a skill kids need because it's amazing how prevalent analogue clocks actually are.

I'm a TA in year 1, we've done telling the time in the last week.
Some of the pupils really struggled, and those that did said they didn't have analogue clocks at home.

We get such a short time to teach this at school that reinforcing learning at home is a must.

We also get the same with money. Children don't get exposure to coins or notes, except through the tooth fairy! And then they rarely see adults using cash.

In geography lots of the children were unfamiliar with the shape of the UK. Most of the adult population would have seen that on the weather forecast by the age these children are and recognise the shape.

Modern life!

I remember when I was at school, when all my extended family were at school and reading a clock was being taught parents and other family members would help the child at home by asking what time it was, how long it was until x, draw clocks, had clock toys etc and keep going until they got it and it became automatic.

Now too many dont bother, give up at the first hurdle and just say they can use digital /phone so dont need to. Many parents are too lazy/too busy/misprioritise (is that even a word?) nowadays to embed life basics at home.

I think it is an issue and while DD learnt it in primary school around 6-7 years ago, we also did lots of practice at home.

She had an analogue watch and we also have two analogue clocks at home and we always expected DD to be able to read them.

I don't think you can have been to many classrooms then, or, at least have only been inside one or two schools.
It certainly isn't universal to have clocks in all classrooms.

Many, many homes don't have analogue clocks on the walls. Even where a house perhaps does have one in the kitchen say, most of the time young people will check the time on a digital display (phone usually), so, although they might be taught how to read a clock in Primary school, it is one of those things that doesn't stick like trigonometry, Shakespeare quotes, Periodic Table, historical dates unless you use them regularly.
My young adults can read a clock, but have to 'translate it' in their head, like I do if someone gives me a time in the 24 hour clock. They "think" in digital times.