Apparently, a lot of parents have no idea what to do with all this new technology. It can be downright funny to watch them struggle, but we should have some sympathy. When we think about the time period our parents grew up in, it was a big difference from the electronics-filled world we have now.

Most kids now have cell phones by the time they're in middle school (and sometimes even earlier!). They have computers as a standard learning tool in school. Some schools even give each child a tablet or notebook computer to use every day. They have electronics that talk back to them and listen when a child tells them to do something. Our parents had nothing of the sort, not even close.

So it's no wonder that they struggle to keep up with the latest technology, especially when it can even be tough for us to understand it at first. Fortunately, a lot of us want to help our parents learn. A Lifehacker.com reader, for example, sent the website a sincere request for understanding how best to teach his "technically challenged" parents how to use a computer – or really, any form of technology. He's desperate.

Lifehacker's response? Make helpful tutorials by recording a screen, provide written instructions to go along with what's happening on the screen, and don't set expectations too high. Great advice, but it still may not work for parents who just don't get it.

These parents, for example, continue to do technology all wrong. We feel bad for them, but we admit – we are laughing hysterically amidst their embarrassment.

15 No Response Mystery

I'd actually be lying if I didn't think about doing this when I see my daughter's phone lying on the couch when she was supposed to bring it to her friend's house. It's embarrassing that I've even thought about it, but it's true. I guess when you're so used to communicating a certain way, it's difficult to imagine how else you're supposed to do it when that form of communication is off the table.

But, at least I didn't actually do it. I caught myself before I felt like a complete goofball. This poor dad, though, just didn't seem to understand what he was doing wrong. Obviously, the kid left his phone at home and dear old Dad wanted to let him know by…texting his phone that he left at home.

At least we can say that this one is a common mistake. Maybe dad was just having an off day? Either way, it's pretty funny.

14 Why Isn't It Working?

All of us who grew up with computers, routers, and wireless connections, think it's pretty simple to set up a wireless network so everywhere you go in your home has internet for all your devices. But, think about the first time you tried to set one up – it wasn't so simple, was it?

Face it: These cables going every which way can be kind of confusing, which is why this particular parental flub may not be surprising, but it's still hilarious. This mom tried with all her might to connect her new wireless router to her modem. But, she just couldn't figure it out, so she called up her more technology savvy son to come to the rescue.

What he found was the router connected to itself. As cool as it would be for a router to be some kind of magical device that gives off its own internet when you plug both ends of its cord into it, it just doesn't work that way, Mom.

13 Mom Googles Google

I actually have an older family member who does a Google search for everything, even websites with super easy-to-remember URLs, like Amazon.com. Instead of putting the .com, she'll search Amazon every time, wait for Google to bring up the results, and then click on Amazon's link. As much as I've tried to explain to her that she doesn't need to take this longer route, she insists that it just makes more sense. Okay, go for it girl.

One mom takes it a step further, though. Her daughter actually says that she uses another search engine, usually Bing, to search "Google". She clicks on the Google result to go to Google's homepage, where she can then search for what she needs. Wouldn't it just be easier to use Google to start with?

This daughter should sneak on her mom's computer and switch her browser's home page to Google, simply to save Mom some time with her searches.

12 Dad To The Rescue...With Bricks

Remember when Farmville and other Facebook games were all the rage? You could barely sign on to the social media network without getting bombarded by friend requests to play the game, or see a thousand requests for game items or help cluttering up your newsfeed. It seemed impossible to escape Facebook games, no matter how hard you tried.

Unfortunately, it seems that Emily's dad, John, missed the memo, and actually thought one of her requests for bricks to help her with her expansion in a game was a real-life request for bricks. Did he think she was building a home? Did she need some random bricks in her life?

We may never know what John thought about his daughter's brick request, but he was quite ready to step up to the plate and help her, which is pretty endearing. Even if he's not so technologically savvy, he's at least an awesome dad.

11 Your New Phone?

Remote controls are getting super techie, especially if you have one of those universal remotes that seem to control everything from video game systems to DVRs to your stove, if you're lucky. For parents who don't know much about technology, though, these remotes that are supposed to make your life easier are anything but.

You may have seen TV shows and movies that pick on older folks for not understanding how to operate technology with high-tech remotes. They make us laugh, but they're also pretty realistic for some parents.

One man took to Reddit to explain one of the most embarrassing, but funny, accounts he had of his dad getting confused about technology. He said his dad saw his own remote control sitting on an end table. Apparently, he didn't recognize it, and asked his son if it was his new cell phone. The bad part is, he was completely serious. Man, those cell phones have sure changed and become super techie!

10 Audiobook Blunder

Some parents just can't seem to admit when their technology goes wrong and it's their own fault for not understanding it. They'd rather just deal with whatever it's doing than to admit they have no idea how to use it properly. This daughter, who told her story to Mommyish, gives us the perfect example of parents doing technology all wrong, but just dealing with it to save themselves the embarrassment of admitting they're clueless.

"My parents were on a road trip going from Texas to Canada listening to an audiobook on a CD. After about 14 hours, my mom got embarrassed and confessed to my dad that she had no idea what was going on in the book, since some characters had seemingly come back from the dead without explanation. My dad, also embarrassed, had been unwilling to admit he had no idea what was going on either. They arrived at the hotel and went to sleep. The next day, they discovered the CD player was on shuffle, and had been listening to the chapters out of order."

9 The Monitor That Was Up To No Good

Have you heard of some more recent controversy over things like Siri or Alexa, the technology that talks to you, listens to you, and does what you say? Apparently, some people really believe that technology is always there, watching your every move. This story was sent in by a Reddit user whose grandma was so paranoid about her computer monitor that she didn't take any chances.

"When I was 12 or 13 my grandma's son-in-law gave her an old computer running windows ME. She hooked it up, got dial up internet access, and my brother and I spent pretty much all day playing Neopets whenever we were over. She didn't have any antivirus on the computer, so naturally it got infected fairly quickly. All it would do is make the computer restart randomly and cause popup ads. Not a big deal, but she was convinced people were watching her through the monitor. So, like any reasonable person would, she took the computer outside, covered it with a tarp, grabbed an axe, and smashed it to pieces."

8 "The Google"

A Roasted.com reader shares a hilarious account of his mom's inability to understand what kind of technology she was using:

"I was once on the phone trying to help my Mom look up something she wanted to buy online, and she was having trouble. I asked her, "Mom, which browser are you using? Internet Explorer or Firefox?" She replied, "Browser? I'm not on a browser, I'm on the Google."

The Google. See, it's the perfect account of a person trying to help his parent figure out technology, but the parent is just not getting it, and is doing it all wrong. Of course, we know that you can only get to "The Google", as this mom puts it, through a browser. But, if this person tried to explain all that to this mom, we have a feeling she would end up more lost. Sometimes, it's just better to let parents go on thinking whatever makes them feel better, like they have some clue as to what's going on.

7 Mom Just Wanted An iPad

Ok, it's happened to the best of us at one point or another before we knew better. You're innocently clicking away on your phone or computer browser and something pops up that seems legit, so you enter your information only to find out that it was some sort of spam request and it's probably going to spam you with crazy e-mails or give you a virus.

Unfortunately, this mom wasn't keen to the tricks of the internet yet and had laser vision on getting a new iPad 3 for free. She got something confused that her daughter had told her and thought she was doing the right thing on the right website, but instead, probably wound up with a killer virus.

In her defense, though, scammers make some of their scams seem totally legit, so we can't blame this mom too much. But, it's hilarious that she's texting her kid in the middle of class about the ordeal.

6 Turtle Speed

And they wonder why their computers run so slow...

If your parents' computer screen looks anything like this one…we are truly sorry. This is why technology challenged parents should probably have their own computers, far far away from the one you use. This would be enough to drive the average person insane, but could tip you over the edge easily if you have a bit of OCD-tendencies.

This is what happens when parents seriously don't know what they're doing in front of a computer. They happily click away at whatever they find, inadvertently downloading every browser extension, program, and useless toolbar along the way. And seriously, did anyone ever really have a need for that silly purple monkey, known as BonziBuddy, as your handy "desktop assistant"? No, we didn't think so.

If your computer looks like this, you might want to check with your parents first, and possibly ban them from ever touching your computer again.

5 Mom Lays It All Out There

We all have that Facebook friend – or a few of them – with the embarrassing parents who share way too much information on Facebook. You know, the ones who comment on their kids' statuses in ways that are sure to embarrass them, or the ones who post far too much about their personal lives.

Savannah knows all about embarrassing moms who definitely do not use Facebook for good purposes, but instead, just lay it all out there for everyone to see. Savannah's mom, Kathy, had to have left her daughter mortified after posting this status. We're sure it was meant to be funny, but when your daughter is a Facebook friend, it's just extremely weird.

Hopefully Savannah got through to her mom about more appropriate things she could be putting on Facebook. If not, maybe Savannah should consider using the 'unfriend' feature – or at least pretending as if there's no relation to this strange Kathy lady.

4 That's Not How Alexa Works

As we've covered in another parenting technology fail, some parents just can't seem to grasp some of our newest technologies, like Alexa. For those who didn't grow up with all the technology we have, it's probably tough to wrap their heads around how all this works. We get it, some of it is so out there that it can be confusing.

Alexa is one of those things that even millennials are in awe of what it does and how it works. For one Reddit user's dad, though, Alexa was just such a confusing concept:

"My dad didn't want to buy an Alexa because he didn't 'want to make the people in India's lives' any harder.' I asked him what that had to do with Alexa and he explained to me that when someone asks Alexa a question someone in India listens to it and types in the answer. I was actually mind blown that he really believed this."

At least Dad has a good heart.

3 Dad Just Wants A Streak

Snapchat can be addicting. But who knew it was so addicting that even some parents can't help but get caught up in everything it has to offer? Like this dad, who was legitimately angered over his kid not snapping him back, which made him lose his "streak".

If you're not up to par with Snapchat, a streak is when you and one of your Snapchat friends snap each other back at least once in 24 hours for at least 2 days in a row. So you have to snap a friend with any photo for two days in a row, and you'll enter into a snapstreak. A number will appear next to a fire emoji that lets you know how many days you two are on the streak for.

Although you get nothing from it, a streak is a pretty coveted thing for Snapchatters. And this dad really wants one. So much so that his daughter found it amusing to take a snap video of him in all his frustration.

2 Finding Facebook

For some parents, Facebook is really difficult to find on the computer. A Facebook user took to her Facebook to let her friends know how her dad really gets logged onto Facebook every day:

"Instead of opening a new tab in Chrome and clicking on the FB title, or simply typing 'F' into the address bar and allowing Google to work its predictive magic, he gets in by one of two ingenious methods. The first, which I call the 'scenic route', consists of repeatedly clicking the 'back' button in an attempt to arrive back at FB via every site he's visited since he was last there a few days ago.

If that doesn't work, the second method involves logging into his email (Hotmail, naturally), navigating to page 4 of his inbox, locating one of those annoying FB notification emails (remember those?!) and clicking on the link contained therein. Lol, just seven easy steps!"

Poor thing. Girl, help your dad out a little!

1 A Speedy Marathon

Even an older technology, like DVDs, something we take for granted, can be difficult for parents to understand. Another Facebook user shared a humorous story of her mom's quest to watch a marathon of Sopranos, which didn't quite work out as she expected:

"In tonight's edition of 'My Parents vs Technology': My dear Mum, defeated outright by the concept of accessing Sopranos episodes on a USB thumb drive, went low-tech and dispatched my sister to hire it on DVD. Here's where it gets great: She then failed to realize that each disk in the six-disc series contained more than one episode on it, so [she] watched the first episode and then changed [the] disk, repeating six times until [the] series was over in triple-quick-time with gaping holes in the plotline!"

Well, at least she tried, right? And the sister also tried to give her mom a technology she thought would work. But, Mom's technology-challenged side showed up for the win again.

Sources: Knowable.com, Mommyish.com, Reddit.com, Roasted.com, YouTube.com