• A study found only one in ten children aged 6-12 in Oklahoma City own a watch
• And just 20 per cent of kids can tell the time from an analog clock face
• Experts believe that the proliferation of smartphones, iPads and other technology means children are less familiar with reading a clock

Four out of five Oklahoma City students can't read a clock according to a new study.

Many toddlers these days are barely out of nappies before they are playing with touch-screen toys and fiddling with iPads.

But it appears they are now paying the price – because when they arrive at school they have no idea how to read a clock.

A study found that only one in ten children aged between six and 12 in Oklahoma City own a watch.

And just 20 per cent of kids can tell the time from a clock face.

Experts believe that the proliferation of smartphones, iPads and other technology means children are becoming less familiar with reading an analog watch.

'I was super surprised,' said Caitlin Carnes, who works for the Boys & Girls Club at Santa Fe South Elementary. 'When I was growing up that was something that we learned. I don't know if that makes me old or not.'

'I think the exposure to technology, everyone's so used to seeing digital. They all have cell phones and tablets so they don't have to look at a clock very often that's analog.'

The Boys & Girls Club launched a special after-school program to tackle the problem and have given students a special time-teaching watch to help them learn.

It is not just this generation's time-telling skills that are suffering.

Tech savvy kids have lost the ability to write by hand - and in September 2013, the Common Core Standards Initiative removed cursive handwriting as a compulsory skill.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4316104/Majority-Oklahoma-City-kids-t-read-clock.html

 

Spell 'clock' correctly in the title and people may take your point more seriously.

 

Less competition for Speedmasters. Assuming if you can't read a watch you won't buy one.

Speedmaster bubble to burst in 30+ years. Who wants to buy some useless watch.

 

Glad remember before smartphones

 

That's why I got this for my 8 year old daughters first "real" watch. She loves talking with me about watches and wants a Cartier. I had a bunch of pictures of watches up and asked her which two did she like and she went straight to the Paul Newman Daytona and the Ballon Bleu de Cartier. My 4 year old son, I've convinced him that there is nothing cooler than an astronauts watch.

 

I hear that almost daily from some friends