Humor Children's questions, most feared by British parents

[SiberianTiger]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/19/us-kids-questions-parents-idUSTRE80I0TU20120119

Why is the sky blue? Kids' questions parents fear



By Li-mei Hoang

LONDON | Thu Jan 19, 2012 7:05am EST

LONDON (Reuters) - They range from the easy, like "would a shark beat a dinosaur in a fight?" through the tricky, like "why is the sky blue?" to the near-impossible, such as "how much does the earth weigh?"

Kids bombard their parents with questions every day on all manner of subjects and now a survey has found the 10 most feared by the grown-ups.

Top of the list: "Why is the moon sometimes out in the day?

Others include: will we ever discover aliens? and how do airplanes stay in the air?

A quarter of British parents find themselves puzzled by their children's science and maths questions on a daily basis, the survey found.

Researchers found that 26 percent of parents think their children are more knowledgeable about maths and science than they are, with more than half of parents dreading questions about subjects they cannot answer correctly, leaving them frustrated and embarrassed.

The study found that a third of parents would actively research to find the answers, whilst many admit they either make up the answers or deflect the question onto their partner.

Polling 2,000 parents with children aged 5-16, it found that many parents believe their youngsters' curiosity for science and maths has been fuelled by educational TV programs.

Many of the parents interviewed wished they had taken more of an interest in maths and science in school and 10 percent of mothers say their limited knowledge is due to the lack of support and encouragement they received in these subjects when they were at school.

The survey was carried out for the Big Bang UK Young Scientists and Engineers Fair which takes place in Birmingham from 15-17 March.

The 10 most awkward questions:

1. Why is the moon sometimes out in the day?

2. Why is the sky blue?

3. Will we ever discover aliens?

4. How much does the earth weigh?

5. How do airplanes stay in the air?

6. Why is water wet?

7. How do I do long division?

8. Where do birds/bees go in winter?

9. What makes a rainbow?

10. Why are there different time zones on earth?

(Reporting by Li-mei Hoang, editing by Paul Casciato)

I hope most orbinauts are well prepared to be parents. :lol: For me, the toughest things to explain to my kid are present days politics. It's much more touchy and murky subject than even anything regarding religion or sex.

 

[orb]

Good to see that science interests children. Bad to see that ordinary parents are feared of these questions from their children.

 

[RisingFury]

The only one I'd struggle with is number 6. That the list of those 10 are regarded as the toughest / awkward ones makes me :facepalm:

---------- Post added at 16:13 ---------- Previous post was at 16:12 ----------

Good to see that science interests children. Bad to see that ordinary parents are feared of these questions from their children.

Kids are the best scientists. They ask questions that no adult would. From the moment they're born, they start exploring the world. Kids don't see well until about 6 months old, so they learn through feel - the reason they stick everything in their mouth.

As parents, we need to get the hell out of their way.

 

[Artlav]

Strange, most of the example questions sound like common knowledge.

Why are there different time zones on earth?

Huh? Wasn't it like 24 of them, give or take a dictator's opinion?

Will we ever discover aliens?

I can't imagine a kid asking about it this way. Not unless he/she is completely cut away from modern entertainment.

 

[Grover]

my only fear in answering these questions one day is not being understood

id better have clever kids, else they'll drive me insane when i try to explain all this to them

 

[Mattyv]

I would actually be scared of these questions! I myself can visualize why the moon is in the sky at day, but when it comes to explaining it to someone else, I suck!

 

[Rtyh-12]

The only one I'd struggle with is number 6. That the list of those 10 are regarded as the toughest / awkward ones makes me :facepalm:

Well how would you explain a 5 year old that the sky is blue because of the way gases and particles scatter light? Or that an airplane stays in the air because of differences in air pressure? Or make them remember long division? The problem is not knowing stuff, it's explaining it in a way they can understand.

...of course, if the "kid" is 16 years old, then it's a whole different matter altogether.

 

[Donamy]

The questions I most feared from my kids were.

1. Can I borrow the car ?

2. Got any money ?

3. Does this taste bad to you ?

4. Can I get a nose ring ?

 

[PhantomCruiser]

Number six would cause me some trouble.

Most of the "kids" I've know start asking oddball questions when they are 3 and 4. My own kid wanted to know some pretty esoteric stuff when she was younger. Around age 8 I hired on with a power company and was working through their training program. To help me memorize I'd recite stuff while in the car or doing things around the house.

The result of this was that I had a 8 year old who still remembers more about the latent heat of vaporization than I can (but I can cheat and use steam tables). This made for an interesting phone call from the school when she argued with the teacher about the boiling point of water. She still recalls quite a bit about enthapy and stoichiometric proportions than I care to remember.

I got pretty lucky and got a kid who always wants to learn "more", but sometimes it's a curse. Luckily the wife got the babies question, I'd have vapor locked.

 

[RisingFury]

The problem is not knowing stuff, it's explaining it in a way they can understand.

The best way is to show them, not just tell them. Laser light shining through dust, splitting sunlight into a rainbow, giving them a flying toy plane to play with.

I remember I had an intuitive perception of how a wing works when I was 5 years old and developed it by playing with plank in water.


Either way, I'm pretty sure most parents don't know the answers to those questions.

 

[SiberianTiger]

In few more years:
Kid: "Daddy, could you tell me why... Ah, never mind, have already found that".

 

[PhantomCruiser]

"There's an app for that..."

Eeek! Think of those possibilities...

 

[Artlav]

The problem is not knowing stuff, it's explaining it in a way they can understand.

Let's see.
How would you explain when the 4yo kid asks why the rock sinks but the ball does not?

 

[Jarvitä]

I can't imagine why anyone would be afraid of having people point out areas in which they could use some more scholarship. This is pathetic, it's basically taking pride in ignorance.

 

[PhantomCruiser]

Take a ball of play-doh and a fish tank (with no fish). The play-doh shaped like a ball sinks, but shape the clay into something like a boat and it'll float. Granted, not easy for a 4 year to fully grasp, but the "neat-o" factor is there, plus they could experiment with what shapes do and do not displace water.

 

[T.Neo]

6. Why is water wet?

Because it's water? :uhh:

I can't imagine why anyone would be afraid of having people point out areas in which they could use some more scholarship. This is pathetic, it's basically taking pride in ignorance.

People dread these questions because they dread their children (who often rely on them for information about the world) asking them a question they cannot answer. I think it's more an issue of failing to perform as a parent more than anything else.

Not everyone needs to know things like the mass of the Earth offhand.

Most of the other questions should be pretty easy to answer in simple terms though, even if the explanation given by most would be highly simplistic...

 

[Napalm42]

I asked a lot of these questions as a child to be honest. My parents responded honestly that they didn't know when they didn't, or they would find a book to help me understand.

It got to the point where my dad started getting me science kits for buoyancy, lift, electromagnetism, and chemistry. My mother got the message and followed suit with education video games about airports (interactive click and points in those days xD), eventually to the point where they would actually hand me real medical encyclopedias, and I'd read them, my mother would simply translate the huge mumbo jumbo words.

There's no real bones about it, I don't see why you should be afraid of your kids asking questions you don't know. I'd want them to, so I could learn with them! Oh, and in regards to your comment, Phantom, I'm not letting my kid handle an iAnything until they're 7, no phone until middle school. Call me old fashioned :lol:

 

[Ghostrider]

Odd. I thought the most feared question would have been along the lines of: "Daddy, was our neighbours' car very expensive?"

 

[Napalm42]

Odd. I thought the most feared question would have been along the lines of: "Daddy, was our neighbours' car very expensive?"

For that I'd just pull out a rate chart and gently explain that the neighbor's swimming in debt in his Aston, and we're living very comfortably debt free in a Honda Accord. :lol:

 

[Unstung]

The "[w]hy is water wet?" question is really intriguing. I found this from a quick Google search, but it has many different answers:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/notesandqueries/query/0,5753,-1725,00.html
I think it's even a legitimate question to ask professionals in scientific fields.

But it's unfortunate that many people cannot answer the other nine questions. Most of those can be looked up easily. I really like the third one which can get kids interested in planetary exploration.