With the whole world moving in the direction of everything digital, kids are missing out on the chance to learn how to use analog clocks. The problem is, plain and simple, the modernization of the world is making it harder for kids to learn analog, simply because the digital is right at their fingertips.
Some United States schools are taking analog clocks down and replacing them with digital, like teachers in the United Kingdom have already done, because students are getting distracted by them.
Stephanie Keenan, head of English at Ruislip High School in north-west London, tells the Telegraph that her school has installed digital clocks after agreeing that many year nine, ten and eleven students cannot tell the time with an analog clock.
“As progress comes, skills are lost,” said Kroungold.
“I think it’s utterly ridiculous,” added Bonnie Lundy.
“I know we try to limit their frustration levels but as some point, when is it too much?” said Erin Steffan, an early childhood educator at Reformation Nursery School in Media. She says the disconnect extends into speech.
When I speak to my child and say, ‘at quarter to four’ you have to be ready… What does that mean? I have to speak to them in digital terms.”
So, as time marches on…
“They will use digital clocks because that’s what iPhone says or their Apple Watch,” said Amara Sher of Media.
“That’s unfortunate. But at same time, it just seems that’s the direction time is going,” said Greco.
They are simply spending too much time trying to figure out how much longer they have until class is over or worrying that they don’t have enough time to finish an exam, which is making it hard for them to concentrate on what they are doing. This alone is causing many students to struggle academically, because of the lack of ability to concentrate on school work, since they can’t figure out how much time they have left to finish assignments or exams.
Kids back in the day could read the analog clocks because they knew how to properly use them. It is no longer useful as digital clocks are just more popular now. Kids are overly exposed to the digital world nowadays and that makes it harder to teach them how to read an analog clock. Even if you have an analog clock, there always seems to be a digital option within reach which will provide a quicker answer of “what time is it?”
Sadly, it’s not just the younger children that are having trouble telling time, even the ability of high school aged kids able to tell time on an analog clock has decreased over the years. Students are complaining about having trouble keeping track of how much time they have left when taking an exam or are rushing through their exams to make sure they don’t run out of time because of their lack of ability to tell time on an analog clock.
Allowing digital clocks in schools was something that was done to benefit the student’s learning ability and help them to be more relaxed during exams and other timed assignments.
The optimism is high in the educational system that they can continue to teach students to not rely on digital clocks all the time and to learn how to use analog clocks throughout their schooling. This will continue to be an ongoing obstacle in schools all over the world as digital becomes more and more popular and available to people of all ages.
