Kids have no clue — and it’s not their fault

School and youth are times for learning, for building a basic knowledge, for getting your hands dirty, your mind blown, for setting you up for a lifetime of learning. Learning doesn’t stop at school, it is a lifelong pursuit.

But kids today are being pushed past basic understanding, pushed to become proficient instead of knowledgeable, encouraged to become adept instead of capable, left bereft of the capability to build on their own, forced to follow the path laid down by educational aids and enforced machinery.

I remember when, at the age of 14, I was a (small) part of a group of older boys who pushed a very old Ford into the school garage. There, for the next months, we took apart, cleaned, fixed and then reassembled an old engine, transmission (three speed), u-joints, rear axle and electrical system. When we were done it ran (just), and we were filled with pride.

Since that time, it is impossible to look at an engine without visualizing the pistons, their cycle, the camshaft, settings, distributor (what a nightmare to get right), sparkplugs, the crankshaft, big ends, oil pump, water pump, flywheel … well, you get the idea.

In physics class, when I was 15, our teacher explained electricity (as best he could). We did experiments with static charge, Tesla machines, printed circuits, primitive computers operated with relays and, never least, electro magnets. In high school I learned the basic computer languages of Algol and Fortran (and as an adult DOS and Basic commands).

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Hand a child of today a computer and he or she will know how to use it. But they will not know how it works. They haven’t a clue, most of them. They don’t even understand electrons and electricity, let alone transistors, chips, capacitors, diodes and resistors. Ask any kid proficient on a computer: What’s DOS? What’s NTFS? What’s CPU? What’s the FAT? These are basics, really as basic as gasoline, pistons, spark plugs and transmission.

Give the car keys to a teenager today and they can learn to drive early — but they have no clue what four-stroke means, what oil pressure is, what tire pressure is appropriate, what alignment is and a whole host of basic safety for operating a car.

“So what?” you say. And in a way you are right. They put enough idiot lights on the dashboard to make sure the uneducated driver never has to watch an oil pressure gauge, just panic if the light goes on (and then fail to stop in time, blowing the engine). Or they have to recall millions of cars because the car starts to accelerate and, given their lack of knowledge about how a car works, they panic and crash instead of braking, shifting to neutral and turning off the engine (but not locking the column).

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Computers and, before that, calculators in school appear at a very early age. Can any kid in high school today do the math to calculate sine or cosine (assuming they are staying in math long enough to do trigonometry — which my generation had at 15)?

Why is this important if you get to the answer with a machine anyway? Isn’t the whole world about getting the answer, making money, skipping the hard part? Yes, society is becoming that way, quickly.

The problem is, the kids have no idea what they are doing beyond performing. Like trained monkeys they know what to do, they become proficient at doing it, but they really learn nothing about why or how in the process. We’re force-feeding them new utilities like iPads, PCs, smart phones and Twitter that seem productive, while they have not got the first idea of how anything really works. They become dependent on the tools, not their own over-ridden capability.

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Life is not about getting the right answer. Life is about knowing what the right answers are. Only by knowing can you make decisions on what to look for, what to strive for.

By pushing the kids to perform with machines and educational aids, all we’re really doing is training kids to achieve, to accumulate skills in narrow topics. We’re no longer letting them assemble sound building blocks so that they can construct their own futures, so they can rearrange basic knowledge to discover new methods, uncover new horizons for them and all humanity.

We need to allow them these new tools, to be sure, but only after they know what’s in them, how they work, what makes them tick. Then, while they use them, they will see pathways to make better use of, to create new devices, to open new futures for all.

So here’s a challenge for all schools and parents: Before you let any kid use a calculator or computer, before you teach them to drive, before you lecture on hydro-electric dams, Thomas Edison, Einstein or locomotives, teach them the basics, the science, of how these tools work, their guts, the insides, the mechanics and electrics. Then turn them loose. The end results will change their lives and the country.

Oh, and in case the teacher or parent doesn’t know (or remember) the basics either: Try a little night school!

Peter Riva, formerly of Amenia Union, lives in New Mexico.