The kids of today have failed at the most basic tests of everyday life - from boiling an egg, to changing a tyre.

We've been flooded with phone calls, emails and comments ranging from 'it's the parents' fault for not mentoring their kids' to 'the kids are to blame because they're not interested in learning'.

Does being unable to change a tyre, iron a shirt or change a washer render you and your generation useless?

• Gen U's skills shortage
• Spelling skills a thing of the past
• The rise of the 'kidults'

Last night we introduced you to twenty-year-old James, seventeen-year-old Jarryd, eighteen-year-old Daniela and seventeen-year-old Tevia. We set them seven tasks and they passed two. At the end of the day, they couldn't even boil an egg.

We asked viewers who was to blame for this skills shortfall and 84 per cent of you said parents were to blame.

However the story incurred the wrath of many viewers and our website deluged with a barrage of criticism - some from viewers as young as eleven, saying they could vacuum the house, clean bathrooms, as well as use drills, angle grinders and welders.

“Are you kidding me? I’m only seventeen and I know how to do everything in tonight's segment,” said another viewer.

But there were those who thought it showed a pampered generation, too enamoured with technology and those who blamed modern parents for failing to give their children a practical know how.

“I don’t think enough parents are giving their kids practical life skills,” a viewer said.

More stories from reporter Rodney Lohse

Last night’s story frustrated eighteen-year-old Nicholas Massie.

“I hold down a lot of jobs, I can cook a lot of meals, I know how to take care of a car, and I’m actually enthusiastic about engines,” Massie said.

He believes our fab four were not a true reflection of his generation.

Need help with some ‘simple’ tasks? Here’s a step by step guide.

“The stereotype was of a kid or a teen that was useless, couldn’t handle themselves in everyday life and just do normal everyday tasks they might face. And I know that I can,” Massie said.

So we gave the same test that was given to James and Jarryd to the student of geophysics to see if he could make a soft boiled egg.

Like our two last night, Massie again put salt in the water.

A word cloud compiled from viewer feedback responses to the ‘Generation Useless’ stories.

“It lowers the temperature of the water so it doesn’t need to get as hot to still boil the egg,” Massie said.

And guess what? He failed.

In a recent survey of 3000 Gen Y-ers a huge skills gap emerged, particularly around the house.

According to APIA Spokesperson David Skapinker “our research around three quarters of over 50s have done DIY around the home. This compares to only around half of generation Y.”

Author and mother of three Cherie Faulder applauded our story, and while 75 per cent of our viewers blame the parents, she has a different view.

“You can’t blame the parents and you can’t blame the kids. I was a little bugger when I was a teenager and my mother used to do everything for me, and when I got married I thought I knew it all and I didn’t. That’s the attitude back then, and that’s the attitude that it is today,” Faulder said.

Faulder had to write her own children a manual on the most basic living skills.

It’s since been published, and become a bible for the first-time home leavers.

Finally, 22-year-old Henry and eighteen-year-old Thomas are adamant their generation won’t be judged on whether or not they can boil an egg, but on designing the technology that boils the perfect egg for them.

“Instead of looking at the youth as being useless, maybe they’re quite savvy and catching on to what really is the future of our society in general,” Henry concluded.

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