Children and directions

[Faststeel]

Heck even most teenages cannot point south, my own sons have no idea which way is east west, north or south.
perhaps good sense of direction is no longer required.......FS

[bobtodrick]

Originally Posted by Faststeel

Heck even most teenages cannot point south, my own sons have no idea which way is east west, north or south.
perhaps good sense of direction is no longer required.......FS

By the time they were 10 both my boys (now 16 & 18) could read a topo map and navigate by compass. If parents don't take the time to teach these things they aren't going to learn them. Parents fault, not the kids.

[last minute]

They can look it up on their phones there must be some kind of app for it.!!!!

[Selkirk]

Originally Posted by bobtodrick

By the time they were 10 both my boys (now 16 & 18) could read a topo map and navigate by compass. If parents don't take the time to teach these things they aren't going to learn them. Parents fault, not the kids.

THAT 👆

Selkirk

[blgoodbrand1]

3 out of 4 of my boys (age 7-13) can tell you direction everytime. The second oldest has zero sense of direction..


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[bat119]

My Father was a land surveyor I learned very young how to navigate by compass, nowadays everybody is dependent on GPS and cell phones.

If you ask anybody for directions in Lloyd they use landmarks like schools or Tim Horton's never an actual address.

I learned basic map reading in school, do they still teach this in school?

[fordtruckin]

Originally Posted by Faststeel

Heck even most teenages cannot point south, my own sons have no idea which way is east west, north or south.
perhaps good sense of direction is no longer required.......FS

It’s all about a cell phone. Take that away and they will be entirely lost!

[Twisted Canuck]

A sense of direction seems to be either something you have or don't though

I can pretty much day or night, cloud or sun, know which way I am facing. My wife...Not so much. Like a sense of danger. When you just know that if you post that one last comment, you are gonna get banned.....

[omega50]

Generally when I am drunk I always crawl straight North

[sns2]

Originally Posted by fordtruckin

It’s all about a cell phone. Take that away and they will be entirely lost!

We didn't choose the generation we were born in and neither did this generation.

If they take outdoor ed in junior high as an option, and pay attention in class they will learn how to use a compass. If they don't they won't. Most kids don't. Just being honest.

[huntsfurfish]

Many if not most city kids in the 50's,60's and 70's couldnt tell you either.

Exceptions were cub/scouts or fathers showing them. Pretty much same as now.

At least now they can find it on their phones. lol

[buckbrush]

My kids (11,7) both know which direction is which at home and have a pretty go idea most of the time, because we talk to them. Eg. Leaving the yard, headed to town. I'll ask "which way do we turn to go to town, North or South? Which direction do we turn at the pavement, East or West?" ect. I never really thought of it as teaching but just conversation?

Our kids only have the ability to know the things they are taught. Not many of us are born knowing East from West.

This reminds me of a few discussions I've had with drillers on rigs over the years. They will go on to bitch about how their hands don't know this or that. At that point I usually look at them and say "well, have you ever taught him that?"
A worker is only as good as the guy who is training him. Same type of idea.

[Grizzly Adams]

Heck, some kids couldn't tell you which direction the sun rises in every morning. Not just the parents fault, they send them to school every day for 12 years. But then, they can't check the oil in their car either.

Grizz

[Okotok]

Originally Posted by Grizzly Adams

Heck, some kids couldn't tell you which direction the sun rises in every morning. Not just the parents fault, they send them to school every day for 12 years. But then, they can't check the oil in their car either.

Grizz

I rebuilt my Datsun 510 engine when I was 16. I don't think I would know where to start with the newer vehicles other than rudimentary stuff like serpentine belts etc. Things have definitely gotten high tech with the skills to match being a little tougher to obtain. I always knew my directions but orienteering in junior high also helped a lot. My wife knows left and right but don't ask her which way is North.

[Whitetail503]

Most adults cant navigate their way out of a wet paper bag either. I've gone hunting with people who got lost 500 metres from where they parked their truck. The ability to read a map, apply magnetic declination to a compass, plot a grid reference and shoot a bearing is entirely a dying art. Most people have no sense of distance either, ask anyone how many paces for 100 metres and most don't have a clue. Never mind asking anyone these days how to tell North during the daytime by the hands on your wristwatch or how to use a crescent moon high in the night sky to tell South.

I'm trying to teach mine but the concept seems lost on them. I'll keep at it.

[270person]

Grow up in the province to the east and this is how it's done. The guys in this car are obviously from Calgary. (the yellow sunglasses and headband are a dead giveaway)

https://youtu.be/PrH4eXowE0g

[Habfan]

Originally Posted by huntsfurfish

Many if not most city kids in the 50's,60's and 70's couldnt tell you either.

Exceptions were cub/scouts or fathers showing them. Pretty much same as now.

At least now they can find it on their phones. lol

I grew up in the city and took a course on compass reading. Also took a hunter safety course in the same school.

[58thecat]

Originally Posted by Faststeel

Heck even most teenages cannot point south, my own sons have no idea which way is east west, north or south.
perhaps good sense of direction is no longer required.......FS

Not when you got your phone....sad but true...until the battery goes kaput...then we just have a large population of simpletons waiting for power etc....

[58thecat]

Originally Posted by omega50

Generally when I am drunk I always crawl straight North

Kiss is just that....keep it simple stupid....north be where your heading...that never changes and your alright!

[Mavrick]

No big deal,kids only need their phone for direction. As soon as they get out of service or it starts to die, they turn around and go home. They will never be lost in the bush.

[jcrayford]

Lived in Southern Alberta the majority of my life.

Sun rises in the East, sets in the West.

Majority of the day, the Sun resides East/South East/South West/West (dependent upon time of day). Even in foggy conditions, you can identify where the Sun is.

Mountains in the West, typical ridges run in a general North / South direction (can vary)

In the prairies, fence lines run West / East / North / South.

On a gravel road that's straight through the prairies, if you're travelling East/West every second fence line should be a mile. North/South, every second fence line should be 2 miles.

Learned all this from my Dad while I was travelling around the countryside with him, well before I took surveying in post-secondary. Learning this made my job SO much easier.

Easy to teach kids these same basic principles - take them for a drive (turn off the cell phone so they can identify with what you're talking about).

Now get me into an area where I can't see the Sun or mountains, and it might take me a minute or two to get my bearings but I'll find them eventually. My wife? Not so much.....

J.

[omega50]

My sons grew up in Turner Valley. Spent countless hours hiking West of Town.

The ONLY reason they know their directions so well is that as young teens,there were a lot of house parties on Acreages in the time before GPS.

[New2Elk]

Not sure if all Scouts groups still do this (would hope so) but in the Scout group I was involved with we taught the youth how to use a compass including proper declination adjustment, find their way using a compass and map, triangulate their position using a compass and map/air photo, use the sun for general direction or use it with a wristwatch for more accurate directions, find constellations and directions from those at night, even taught some how to make a sundial with a couple of sticks and use that for finding direction. Most of the youth absolutely loved it and really excelled at any orienteering challenges we put in front of them. Like most have said, someone just needs to teach them.

[Ken07AOVette]

Originally Posted by Grizzly Adams

Heck, some kids couldn't tell you which direction the sun rises in every morning. Not just the parents fault, they send them to school every day for 12 years. But then, they can't check the oil in their car either.

Grizz

Right now it rises in the south east and sets a little south west. I hate it. Lol

[tbiddy]

I’ve been dealing with rigs and legal land descriptions for 20 years. Give me a LSD and I can find anything. But dealing with vac/water haulers is a whole different world. These are mostly grown men in their 30-40’s. I give them directions and use East, West, North and South and they usually have no idea what I’m talking about. They ask for lefts and rights. That works fine unless your coming from the opposite direction I’m talking about. BC’ers are the worst. They tell me unless there are mountains they are lost. The mountains are to the East and the ocean is to the West. Most just ask for a Google Pin drop now.

The wife is even worse. A couple lefts and rights and she has no idea where we are. She’ll come to work with me and question if we are going the right way even though we’ve driven the same route for a week. I tell her I’m scared if anything happens to me at work she’ll have no idea which way to head to the hospital. If we’re in a new area I always give her a little quiz just to make sure. Haha

[tool]

I feel 100% confident trekking off almost anywhere on foot, quad, road or horseback and know where I’m going and how to get back.

Put me in a shopping mall and I’ll cone out of a store after browsing and not know which way to turn though.

Bizarre, confusing feeling.

[RO CC]

It’s not necessarily the children, I think one either has the sense of direction or they don’t. My daughter took after me and is always aware of her surroundings: where from, where to, how far, which way, etc. I think it’s like an internal compass some people have. Her mom on the other hand...

Most of what a children misses in orientation can be taught though, as long as they understand what all that can be applied to, also. Unfortunately, many youngsters don’t really need a sense of direction to get to their smartphones though.

[RandyBoBandy]

Originally Posted by Twisted Canuck

A sense of direction seems to be either something you have or don't though

I can pretty much day or night, cloud or sun, know which way I am facing. My wife...Not so much. Like a sense of danger. When you just know that if you post that one last comment, you are gonna get banned.....

100% correct!! I have absolutely no sense of direction UNLESS I really think hard about it. Using a compass always helped, GPS was better. All the years I hunted south and east of Vermilion, my hunting pals would just tell me to stick to that fence and keep going until you get to Isley Road, we'll come and get you

[thumper]

I don't think I know one kid who can identify the North star, let alone the Milky Way. Most are scared stiff of the dark, and it's dark out 50% of the time!

My wife has to look at her hands to know right from left. Her wedding ring is on her LEFT hand ...

[rob777]

They just follow the blue arrow dictated by their waze app. That's why.