AIBU to think basic DIY and car skills are being lost?

[Thechaseison71]

Are skills being lost through the generations?

Following on from the battery thread, when I was younger usually a friend of family member would show a youngster how to go basic car maintenance and then they then know. Yet it seems the ability is being lost the amount of people insisting it's a paid for job . Not just batteries but bulbs )( I know some are a pig to fit) wiper blades etc

And stuff in the house Mum taught me how to plumb in washing machine, hang wallpaper etc. Dad taught me wiring plugs and fitting ceiling lights. These are all examples. I then taught my kids to do all this stuff

Yet it seems many people have never been taught or bothered to learn, therefore they can't pass skills down

Eventually will it get to the stage that unless you train in a trade no one will be able to do basic stuff? Surely people would want their kids to learn stuff rather than having to pay others constantly

Most people look at YouTube for the knowledge (or ask Mumsnet). However, and this is something the EU are trying to tackle, most devices and implements around the house don't have a spare part supply available. Or are built in a way that they cannot be taken to pieces.

An example is my late father in laws black and decker wallpaper stripper which must be 30 years old, the power wire is damaged right where it goes into the machine. But it has special tork screws so it can't be taken to pieces. As I am fairly handy and do DIY and have done some handyman jobs professionally, I must have about 1,000 screwdriver bits... but none of that design...it's done deliberately to make you buy new

Debt and interest rates and loans are literally on the maths gcse. There’s an exam question every year.

the kids hate it because they don’t see it as useful to their life at the time, but it really is taught.

My Renault Clio headlight bulbs were extremely hard to change 20 years ago, not going near my current car’s LEDs. Another old car was dead simple to change all bulbs, rear light cluster, exhaust etc

I bought a new electric toothbrush recently and it had a continental plug on the charging station so I cut it off, stripped the wires and added a 3 pin plug from the local pound shop so I could charge it up. Most people don’t have the first idea how to do this.

Why bother to do this when you have adapters. I use a UK adapter and can still use my toothbrush all over the world, as I have many different adapters. I can also wire a plug.😎

Wasn’t it just a shaver plug?

YouTube is like a school for repairs and solving tech problems so learning from parents is not really necessary any more. Equal access for all, which is a boon for those whose parents didn't do diy.

Nope. That’s parenting, why do people have this view that it’s the job of a school to bring up kids.

Several friends can't even pump their car tyres up. When DH became housebound the local garage told me everything I needed to do (knew about tyres from my Esther teaching me).

I think some of OP’s examples are quite tricky and not what would call ‘basic’ skills, eg hanging wallpaper or plumbing in a washing machine. I’m in my 50s and certainly couldn’t attempt those tasks.

However, I do agree that many truly basic skills are not being passed on, especially to the entitled Millennial generation, whose parents have done everything for them. I can change a plug and sew a button on, and I would suggest that most people under 35 can’t do either of those things, more do they know how to turn off a stopcock. With cars, I also know quite a few younger people who don’t have a clue how to check or top up tyre pressures or even change screen wash!

Times have moved on.

I used to service my car by changing oil filter, air filter and draining the oil, spark plugs etc. Now I wouldn’t touch a modern car as you need to reset the service counter plus everyone wants a proper service record when selling.

As for decorating I have put up all paper up in every room in many houses but these were old houses that needed wall paper to hide the old plaster. Typically most houses now have better plastered walls and people paint them instead.

So while I agree that the art of DIY is being lost somewhat in other ways YouTube gives so many more people the ability to do it themselves but what they do has changed from when I was young (god I feel old now 😁)

Yanbu. I have colleagues who are horrified I'll be painting the hall and stairs at Easter. People who wouldn't consider washing their own car or making a birthday cake. As for fitting a spare wheel if they have a flat tyre, most would call the RAC.

I've taught my ds everything I can think of
My ex is hopeless, he hasn't even shown ds how to check a tyre pressure or use a tread gauge.

Meh, DH had never learnt to put water in his car windscreen wash when I met him at age 30. He had a pretty handy dad, who was just too busy to teach him anything. 30 years later, I'm still doing all the car stuff, as my dad taught me stuff...

Same with cooking and cleaning. People have less time and are happy to pay for the convenience.

I don’t think these skills need to be taught by parents necessarily, literally everything is available on the internet.

My dad made me go on a basic car maintenance course as soon as I passed my driving test. I can change the bulbs, check the oil, water and tyre pressure. I can even change a tyre but don’t have a spare on my current car. I spent the weekend re waterproofing my car roof and tidying up the paintwork. But I find things like that interesting.

I can also knit, sew, cook, paint and wallpaper. DS probably doesn’t know how to open a car bonnet and has absolutely no interest in finding out.

Most cars no longer have a spare wheel.
My car tells me when the tyre pressure is low and on which tyre.
Annual mot/service tells you tread gauge levels

Also basic repairs like sewing a button back on.

have you been in a new car OP?! Of course Normal people can’t fix them 🤣😭

Which requires the corresponding socket to charge it. If I had one I wouldn’t have needed to change the plug. What was the point of your post?

A lot of young people aren't just renters, they live in house shares with no space to own and store a load of tools. The washing machine or dish washer that they can't plumb, isn't theirs to plumb.

But yes, it would be good if everyone had basic sewing, cooking, personal finance and diy skills.

The world has moved on - most cars and white goods have internal computers, built in obsolence and it's usually cheaper to replace rather than fix - this is not a skills issue. Most of these skills are easily obtainable via YouTube videos. It's not difficult to paint and put up wallpaper or check tyre pressure. Why do you think they are crucial skills that must be taught to children when they are just as easily picked up in about 5 minutes as they are needed?

My 80 year old mum (ex racing driver and garage worker who did all her own DIY and car maintenance) was absolutely useless at working out the computerised seat settings in my 3 year old car. I'm not sure I'd take her advice on its mechanics.

How often is anyone plumbing in a washing machine anyway? I'm in my 50s, I've owned 3 washing machines in my entire life. Just get the guy who delivers it to connect the pipe.

I'd much rather the next generation was being taught skills that might help us solve climate change, food insecurity, transport and the economy than how to hang some wallpaper.

A shaver plug is a shaver plug not a continental plug?

I actually kind of hate these threads. Take my dad, I mean he can do any of this manual labour you’re talking about. He can sew on buttons, plumb in a washing machine, lay a pavement, fit a bathroom. He used to be a plumber.

i can’t do any of that. You know what i can do?

chair a committee meeting
negotiate with bankers on behalf of my company for tens of millions in funding
deliver a company wide transformation

maybe less high level 😂 I can

use the gov website
understand my tax code
Understand basic investing to make money on savings
Send an email 🤨
download an app
chair a large professional meeting
do an excellent Cv and job interview
network At a formal event

my dad can do none of this

and you know what? Because I earn 5x more than he ever did, I pay someone to do the manual work he can do.

im not better, he’s not better. But I’m certainly not going to despair that women like me can’t sew a button. I see it as progress

I bet you’re fun to live with! I bought my electric toothbrush from Amazon and it came with a continental plug, and I have neither a continental socket, adapter nor a shaver socket to charge it up with. But I do know what they all look like. So used my diy skills to change the plug to a 3 pin to charge it up. Hence the purpose of my post. In the time it’s taken to reply to your pedantry I could have changed it again.

Well exactly. As DH always says earn as much money as you can doing what you're good at and then pay someone else to do the stuff they are good at.

I kind of get what you are saying and I get what the OP is also saying.

The world has moved on as basic car maintenance isn’t typically needed anymore except perhaps inflating tyres and filling washer fluid.

Technology is key and yes I agree with you in that some of the things you listed are now deemed to be essential.

I think in my 50s I sit in between both views. I pay for car maintenance now rather than do it myself. I think that the some of the items you listed are more useful. But I can still mend a button or item of clothing so I save money that way 😁