A Duke College Professor Shows That Most Kids Cannot Tell Time On Analog Clocks

There have been many changes since people our age (i.e., millennials and Gen X) were in school. Cursive, long division, and writing essays by hand are a thing of yesteryear, but should reading an analog clock also be on this list? Some people are wondering if children are still taught how to read an analog clock after a Duke professor’s video went viral. Yes, you read that right: Duke students cannot read a normal clock.

In Aaron Dinin’s video, he sets up different times on an old school analog clock to see if the students in his Entrepreneurship class know the time. Spoiler alert: most of them failed miserably, and while Dinin’s Instagram bio warns that no one should take his videos “too seriously,” several Instagram users are wondering what the hell they are teaching kids in school?

In the video, Dinin wagers a bet with his students. If they can tell the time on the clock within three seconds, they’ll get five bonus points added to their grades.

First, Dinin sets the time to around 9:56. The first student’s guess?

“11:40?” she answers with zero confidence.

Next, Dinin sets the time to around 1:16.

The next student guesses wrong before time runs out.

Dinin sets the clock to around 8:58, and the next student replies, “9:58?”

“It’s not 9:58. It’s 8:58,” he responds.

Finally, after several wrong answers, there’s a glimmer of hope when one student guesses correctly. Though that hope is quickly dashed after another student answers with a horribly wrong answer, excusing her mistake by saying, “I got the hands mixed up.”

A handful more kids go through, some getting it wrong, others nailing the time.

Dinin concludes the video by asking, “The real question is, ‘Does anyone need to be able to read one of these anymore?’ I don’t know. I hope not!”

After the video went viral, people had some mixed reactions.

“I don’t know how this is humorous. This is tragic if you ask me,” one user wrote.

Another said, “The way this generation lacks common sense and basic life skills is insane. At least they're really good at social media”

“These kids actually got into Duke?!!” another questioned.

One user joked, “I just found new criteria on whether or not I will allow a guy to date my daughter…! 😂”

One teacher swears that analog clock-reading is still taught in school and said, “As an educator I just want to share WE STILL TEACH THIS. They just don’t practice using it anymore.”

So, kind of like conjugating Spanish verbs? You memorize it for the test, but the minute you’re out of there, it falls out of your brain?