Things your teens don’t know

[Mumofteentwins]

I remember seeing threads like these over the years but now I have teens of my own wanted to resurrect the topic!

I have 15yo twins. They are wonderful, lively, bright, sporty, funny kids. But sometimes I’m astounded at stuff they don’t know 😂 They have two well educated parents and a wide circle of family and friends and a houseful of books etc etc.

The other day I commented that I was pleased at how well my supermarket hyacinths are doing. Both looked blank, neither of them knew what a hyacinth was, ok not the end of the world but there are other examples.

Semi light hearted, but I do feel I’ve only got a couple more years with them at home and I want to fill with them as much general and practical knowledge as possible!

What do your teens not know? Seem to remember teachers usually have a lot to say on these threads!

Mine thought a proverb was a grammar thing like an adverb or a pronoun

When my dd went off to uni I thought id prepped her pretty well- basic cooking, laundry etc.
She messaged me to ask why none of the buses were stopping for her. No idea she had to put her arm out..
At 16 we were having a conversation about "the cuckoo in the nest" and I was explaining that they steal other birds nests/eggs. She said "but when do they go to live in the clocks?"!

My 18 year old didn’t know what a bailiff was. She did know about a new rightwing party and the policies she agrees with and which she doesn’t. From TT, I think.

My two had no idea about this either. I asked DD to get me a book of stamps on her way home so I could send Christmas cards. Turns out she had no idea what this was or why we use stamps. This despite having written and posted letters to her overseas cousins when she was younger.

Had they never used a dictionary?

Probably not.

When I go to pick up a prescription, the staff in the pharmacy (mature adults, not teens) check through the slips in the tray to see if it's ready. The slips clearly aren't sorted into alphabetical order - the first letter of my surname is near the beginning of the alphabet, but they always go through the lot to find my name.

I was looking for the daffodils I had bought at the supermarket. My DS had helped me unload the shopping. He had put them in the fridge thinking they were spring onions.

I'm nearly 40 and have never put my arm out to stop a bus in my life!

Perhaps it's different in different places, but in the several counties I've lived in, the bus just stops whenever the driver sees anyone waiting at a stop, without them having to wave it down like a hitchhiker. Surely waiting at a bus stop is sufficient indication that you want to....catch a bus, why else would you be standing there?

Surely waiting at a bus stop is sufficient indication that you want to....catch a bus, why else would you be standing there?

Lots of bus stops have several different buses stopping there. How does the driver know you want his/her bus and not one of the others if you don't signal?

Not my own but through work. We organised a Christmas quiz for teenagers. One of the questions was, ‘Who wrote A Christmas Carol?’. A genuine answer we received was Steven King!!

My 16 year old daughter asked me do they de-bone a chicken while its still alive.

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 i love this so much!

My dd, who got an 8 for geography at gcse, is convinced that Glastonbury is in Scotland.

Yeah my teen DSC can't tell time on a clock. Or read 'joined-up' handwriting. Their handwriting is appalling, but they type so much for everything it's not really a surprise.

They are academically very bright, loads going for them - but have never heard of Charles Dickens, Bob Dylan etc. Almost any 'classic' author or musician or politician other than the ones on the GCSE syllabus and they haven't a clue.

Maybe I'm sugar coating how much I knew at their age. They have so much information all the time it must be hard to know what to focus on.

Madonna would HATE that…😆

One of mine didn’t know you could drive while pregnant. Obviously hadn’t thought about it before.

@tokennamechange if there are multiple buses on different routes at the same stop you have to put your hand out.
This happened to teenage DS too, we have only 1 route here but he got a Saturday job and needed to walk 15 mins or so to another route on a busier crossroads with 3 routes. The bus passed him twice and he had to call me to drive him. First time he didn't know to put his hand out, second time he said he did salute but the driver nodded and drove on, he showed me what he did and it was a little wave, the driver obviously thought he was waving him onwards. He learned the hard way.

One of DC referred to an African country as Doctor Congo.

This is from spending the whole of Y6 and half of primary school on parts of speech, fronted adverbials etc. If in doubt it must be grammar.

I think mine struggle to name most flowers, trees and also wild birds. Also whatever skills or secret lore is needed to open our front door when someone knocks.

Booking GP appts, ordering regular meds once they turn 16, booking haircuts, taking Ubers/taxis (not our normal, we only really use them in emergencies, so all the more reason for them to need practice.)

Round here bus drivers will drive straight past if you don't put your arm out.

It came as a surprise to me, aged about 16, that you got billed for water, although not gas and electricity.

I put this down to my dad who was forever complaining about the fuel bills but, whenever we asked if there was anything to drink he would reply, "Yes, there's water in the tap, it's free!"

In towns and cities there will be multiple buses that go past your stop, but not necessarily going to your destination. You have to put your hand out so they know you want that particular bus. I suppose on routes where there is only one bus, that isn’t necessary.

I teach teenagers, as did dh until a few years ago, so I'm very used to the strange things they don't know (and the strange things they do know!). My favourite is one of dh's (ex-history teacher). He was doing an impromptu rough timeline of historical periods on the board. When he'd finished, one of the 14 year-olds asked quite seriously "But when did all of the stuff in The Lord of the Rings happen?" Brief pause, then everyone else fell about laughing!

I can confirm that lots of secondary school kids can't tell the time on an analogue clock (especially in foreign languages, which I need to teach them to do). If you say 'quarter to four' and ask them to write it digitally, they will more often than not write 4:45.

Mine in her early teens went into the local city on the bus for the first time with her friends … they all got back on the bus to come home at the same stop …. I didn’t realise I had to explain that you crossed the road 🤦‍♀️🤣

My 13 year old would say 50 past 5.
Grrr she should know better 😂

Ask them if they know what a cheque or lodgement slip is. Just kidding. That would be mean.

My Daughter is 16 soon and for her birthday will be getting her a moped to ride to college on, she thought she could just get on and ride, had to explain that she had to do a CBT, tax it and get insured before she could ride it.
13yo can read an analogue clock but will say 40past instead of 20 to which drives me mad haha.