How long has the metric system been taught in school?

Moved from Gift & Festivities, posted in the wrong forum in error.

kceire wrote: »

Metric system in from at least before 1994. My junior cert in 1997 was metric. But there are still something's that people do the old fashioned way, eg baby weight, people weight, rural folk still tell you the nearest shop is a mile that way!

I did the Inter Cert in 1983 and I was educated completely in the metric system. I have never used anything else during my working life.

However, in a discussion about weight, when I say I was 70kg, I lost 13kg, I am now 57kg, I get a blank look from people of all ages, including people 15 years younger than me.

When I translate is as I was 11 stone, I lost 2 stone, I am now 9 stone, everyone understands.

For some reason, we still have some sort of "folk" memory for imperial weight measurements.
Strange, I know.

When I started school in Junior Infants in 1969 the Imperial system was still in use. By the time I had reached 6th class (1977/78) it was metric all the way. Basically I was taught both ways.

But my parents and grandparents still used the Imperial system for measurement. So whatever was taught in school re the metric system had very little impact on my understanding on measurement in a practical way. To this day I still mix both systems of measurement. I can visualise 4 ozs of margarine, but I would not know that it's approximately 114 grams.

If I remember correctly money changed around 1970 too. It's because of the old money we learned the 12 times tables.

It was a confusing time.

It makes people more clever if they can switch between the two. My 2.21 times tables improved immensely after I learned of the existence of kilograms.

Kewreeuss wrote: »

I could understand perhaps if someone over fifty would still use them but how does it make sense to a thirty year old? I mean I don't think anyone thinks or converts to pounds shillings and pence so why do they do it to feet and stones. Nuts!

The older people kept the tradition growing, when growing up you would hear heights & other measures in old units, so you get used to it.

You say nobody converts to shillings & pence, but most of these people are not converting the other units you mention, the units are still in use in many cases. e.g. waist sizes, most clothing will still have inches as the primary unit, with cm in smaller type.

Some things have stayed the same so its common to hear of them keeping old known values, e.g. wages & prices increase year by year, if inflation did not exist you still might hear older people talking in old currency more. But heights & weights & a "long walk" are not changing so the old standards stick, 6ft is a reasonably tall man etc. Usually they are lower units too, people prefer rounded units, like 14 and a half stone, rather than 203lb, the jump is often in 1/4 stone increments.

If it was made illegal or just extremely unpopular to publish inches then people would change their ways -just like with money.

I think some keep it since they know people have poor maths. e.g. the butchers near me has things measured in lb, they do not have price per pound which I think is now illegal, but have 1lb packs of stuff. I figure they are hoping the older people will be more used to it, and that younger people might make the mistake of rounding it up, so 2lb of mince for €10 might be rounded to be a kilo, so they might appear cheaper than the tesco next door selling 1kilo of mince for €10.50