Toys to Tools: Learning not to make stuff.....

It’s my opinion that while the way kids learn is changing, everything will be ok. Or at least as ok as it’s ever been. I guess I could tell an anecdotal tale of my own upbringing, but the point is that there are plenty of young people doing incredible things with their electronic gizmos and gadgets. The majority will always be barely average performers. There was only one Edison, and only one Ford...only one Bill Gates. Societal innovation doesn’t exist. It’s that one driven individual that finds a way to change the world. The rest of us are just waiting for him or her to think it up and make it happen. And I think those amazing, driven, intelligent young people are still out there. Toys or no toys. Then again, I’ve always been a glass half full type of person.
 
Until we stop programming the kids via smartphone tech, we are likely to have a major continuing problem in fixing and manufacturing just about anything that we use. Just look at the problem any of the trades are having finding younger people to learn and do the work. Even in factory settings where the pay is actually pretty good, getting people even to come for interviews is hard. We are having to hire older and train them but they are not likely to remain more than a few short years as retirement is their next step. We could hire a couple tool and die but try to find them!

This is quite unbelievable to me. Before I joined the military I wanted to work in a shop. Like a machine shop or something but all the places I tried didn’t want a young guy and a lot of time weren’t hiring at all. At that point I knew manual machining but no cnc. Anyways maybe I would’ve learned quicker in those shops but now I just spend a lot of free time reading and watching how to do this stuff. I’ve built up my shop with machines on my own though. I think a lot of those old shop owners just don’t want to hire anybody from the younger generation. We are out there and some of my friends are going through some courses to learn machining. Of course I work in a somewhat specialized field of work as electronics technicians.
 
Just the other day I was thinking about when I made a glider out of two 2"x4"s nailed together
and how that was a good hands on learning experience, but today all I see hands on with the younger generation
is with a keyboard of some fashion.
My glider is still back at the drawing board by the way, I think maybe the bent nails sticking up was creating too much drag.
 
Yea its very sad. Im one of what they call a “millenial”. I was born in 93 and i even see it now to this day. I admit ive built a computer or 2 for video games and play them to this day. But i also am not afriad to be working outside and getting my hands greasy like most kids my age or even younger. Like most of the members on here i hope my children will want to do what im doing now. Without machining in general this country and the whole world would be in trouble. I plan to teach them the basics of a car so they can learn as i have learned. Kids now-a-days don’t even know the half of the meaning of FUN. I was never a big sports kid i was boring but i still was outside riding a bike or playing with chalk on the driveway or even playing with toy guns. I just hope some of the people my age get their head in order and teach their children with respect as i have been taught and they learn about human interactions.
 
If you think about it, it started many years ago - There were plan books with your Erector Set, Tinker Toys, Legos, etc through the 70s and 80s. But more and more "instruction" was added on "How to play with your toy" When my kids were growing up (90s and 00s) I threw the instruction booklets in a drawer, mostly never to be seen. I didn't want someone telling them how they should play.
 
We are getting a legoland near us in 2020 and i can’t wait for it to come the kid inside me just wants to go for the day!
 
We used to be amused when a child unpacked the toy and played with the box. but now the child cant play with the box because it does
not know how to play.
B
One Christmas I asked for boxes so I could build a fort. I got a box about 4 ft. square with many more smaller ones inside the next down to the point of a present I wanted but knew it was toooo expensive for our family to buy. That is a Christmas I have enjoyed remembering for 65 years. Nice !
 
I think toys have evolved following evolution of technology and society. I had a Mechano set, electric train, bicycle etc, those technologies weren't there when my parents were kids. My kids had Lego, mostly themed to the movies of the day, Starwars etc, computer games and hand held games. My nefews kids this Christmas had two wheeled things you balanced on like a Skegway. All this fits the day. They're learning from technology that will expand their minds. Face it a manual lathe and mill don't cut it in industry anymore. Computerized cnc equipment makes our world revolve. Who knows whats next.

Greg
 
Having taught Industrial Technology for 33 years starting in 71, we have seen the direction of the school counselors to send them to college. Today we see that college is a must BUT 2 years in community college is a must to get in any door. Kids took our classes because that got them a job in John Deere. They took welding and did not care about a school education (screw that). Kids that wanted hands on were the farm kids ( imagine that). Kids who took drafting only thought of the school of engineering as a goal, and they just copied pictures from the drafting book. At least today with CAD today you need to think of 3D and ask the program to show how it will machine the part and fit it to another part. And of course boys took auto for the reason they always have. When I taught ladies auto mechanics for adults it was made up with a lot of nuns that wanted to save some money by doing the work themselves. I don't think the priests wanted to fix the nuns cars for them (go figure). Today the schools see the Technology as to costly to run and the liability to high. This trend will be hard to change unless the public sees the need to have workers ready for jobs with the pay that will keep them employed. Then again we need to see companies that are willing to keep companies in this country. We just see that everything is for sale when we want to sell for a profit to the stock holder. In reality, who are buying the companies today (foreign countries) and Trump wants them to invest in our country. BAD idea.
 
Just the other day I was thinking about when I made a glider out of two 2"x4"s nailed together
and how that was a good hands on learning experience, but today all I see hands on with the younger generation
is with a keyboard of some fashion.
My glider is still back at the drawing board by the way, I think maybe the bent nails sticking up was creating too much drag.
Yep. Oak 2 x 4's , wings of metal roofing from the chicken house. Assembled with salvaged 16 penny nails from said 2 X 4's. Wheels and axle from the rusted out "Little Red Wagon "
 
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