[dinodino]

Why the hell do they need calculators?

[dinodino]

Reply to self: never mind—for calculation of basic trig functions I suppose they are better than carrying books of tables.

[MacMattico]

I can see it on the more advanced stuff, but in 8th-9th grade, no. I even took it away from her once because I wanted her to do her homework last year by hand. She showed me the homework and at the top it said USE YOUR CALCULATORS. I had done the same Algebra problems before and never needed a calculator! But the NY state Regents exams say they are to be used. The all-knowing Regents has spoke!/S

[Sacajaweau]

Hell....they have computers in first grade.

[OldMissileer]

Why the hell do they need calculators?

Because teachers are either to darned lazy or ignorant to teach them the correct way. That includes graphing.

My son was told he had to have a graphing calculator for his Trigonometry and Calculus classes. The teachers never taught them how to graph the equations. I had to sit down at home and show my son how to graph it on paper. He told me he understood the subjects better by using graph paper than letting the calculator do the work for him.

He is now in Engineering school.

[Arrowhead1952]

Why the hell do they need calculators?

They can't do basic math. I filled up with gas a couple of weeks ago, and the pump price was $.02 higher than the sign. I went into the counter to inform them of the mistake. The kid was trying to figure out how much I was overcharged.

I looked at the receipt and noticed I had put 15 gallons in my tank and told him it was $.30, while he was using his phone to calculate the total. After about three minutes, he said "You are right", and gave me $.30.