Lack of education

May 13, 2008, 1:11 PM

Well this thread got heated pretty fast. I hoped that I would have been able to make my point clearer before people started making assumptions of my thoughts on Americans.

This thread is my little dig at Derek, nothing more and nothing less. I mean him no offence and he knows it.

The reason why I said "You Americans are so geographically challenged." is partly because it fitted the mood of the conversation and partly because I find it amusing that Americans notoriously fail at world Geography. Look at the facts.

It's not my fault your government decides to stop teaching you geography after 7th grade, afterall.

That being said I mean no one any offence, but I won't apologise for saying it either. Though I am sorry some of you took it so seriously.

I was tired when I posted the link to the video and I really couldn't be arsed to explain why I posted that particular link. I know not all Americans are stupid, I'm not nearly ignorant enough to make generalisations that wild. I just find it amusing.

May 13, 2008, 9:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Joker

It's not my fault your government decides to stop teaching you geography after 7th grade, afterall.

Public edumucashun does fail here, geography is usually just taught in elementary and middle school, then forgotten. But if I were you, I wouldn't be so hasty to fault Americans for not knowing their geography. I found an article on the New York Times's website, it talks about how Americans suck at geography, and then shows some interesting statistics of a survey conducted by the National Geographic Society.

Quote:

Originally Posted by New York Times

The survey, commissioned by the geographic society, tested 10,820 adults in Canada, France, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States and west Germany how Countries Scored of a possible score of 16 points, American adults averaged 8.6, about on a par with British adults, who scored an average of 8.5 points, the findings showed. Canadian adults scored 9.2. Americans in the 18-to-24-year group averaged 6.9 points, the lowest score of all youths tested and of all other age groups in the United States. Swedes tested the best, scoring 11.6 points, and Germans averaged second best, scoring 11.2 points.

So it's not all Americans who are geographically challenged, just the younger generations because the public education system is going downhill, and that's not our fault. It's because idiots in government think up rules and ideas for the public education system and think it'll work, when they don't even have the slightest clue because they put their children in private schools. Kinda like George Bush's stupid No Child Left Behind Act. He had good intentions with it, and the idea of it sounds nice, but it's messed up our schools SO badly.

May 13, 2008, 9:41 PM

Agreed.

Knowing the location of continents and countries is basic geography. It's as simple as showing kids globes, and asking them to pinpoint things on a map. It's so easy that there's no excuse, whether the public education system is run by a bunch of monkeys and insightless bureaucrats, or not.

May 13, 2008, 9:42 PM

My friend thought that Singapore was in Spain, and El Salvador in Africa.

Although I used to think that Carlisle was in Scotland but that's not nearly as bad, in my defence we used to drive past it all the time and I didn't think we had crossed the border yet...

May 14, 2008, 5:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cancer Man

It's as simple as showing kids globes, and asking them to pinpoint things on a map. It's so easy that there's no excuse, whether the public education system is run by a bunch of monkeys and insightless bureaucrats, or not.

Right. I seriously doubt that after a long day of work, mommy or daddy are going to pull out a globe or map and point countries out to their child. They're gonna be tired, likely ask the child how school went, and try to give themselves a little "me" time before they go to bed.

My dad is gone 12 hours a day. He leaves at 4:30 in the morning to beat the rush hour traffic to work, then gets home at 4:30 or 5 when there's nothing extra to do at the office. He then has dinner, watches the news, and does a few things online before going to bed at around 9 or 9:30. My mom teaches special ed. kids, so about 90% of her time spent at home is doing nothing but grading papers and making lesson plans.

Maybe next time you decide to call something simple, you should actually take into account how real life works.

May 14, 2008, 6:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ARC-77

Right. I seriously doubt that after a long day of work, mommy or daddy are going to pull out a globe or map and point countries out to their child. They're gonna be tired, likely ask the child how school went, and try to give themselves a little "me" time before they go to bed.

My dad is gone 12 hours a day. He leaves at 4:30 in the morning to beat the rush hour traffic to work, then gets home at 4:30 or 5 when there's nothing extra to do at the office. He then has dinner, watches the news, and does a few things online before going to bed at around 9 or 9:30. My mom teaches special ed. kids, so about 90% of her time spent at home is doing nothing but grading papers and making lesson plans.

Maybe next time you decide to call something simple, you should actually take into account how real life works.

I didn't even mention parents... did I? Of course I know how real life works, you're just getting argumentative. Quite frankly, if parents are busy almost 24/7, then there's something amiss. Parents have gotta have some time for their kids.
My dad, who is a single parent, 66, and works 12 hour night shifts 3-4 days a week, can still find time during work days to help my sister with homework, etc. It's simple for both the education system and parents to ensure that kids can pinpoint most countries on a map. Put up posters, give kids educational books, encourage them to read in general. Absolutely no excuse for schools that average intelligence kids don't know alot of important basic facts by the end of primary school.

May 14, 2008, 6:41 AM

Aye, true, there are weekends and holidays and such.

Dunno about encouraging kids to read though...they don't learn it very well in school and teaching it to your children in your spare time is a bit more of an undertaking than teaching them geography.

But I also think lack of geographical knowledge stems from America's self-importance. Most countries learn English as a second language, immigrants pour into our country on a daily basis for a chance at a better life, college grads (and even just highschool grads) have plenty of job opportunities, etc. With things like that going on, it sort of instills the idea (be it active or subconscious) that our country is super important and all that anyone ever needs, so there's really not much need to know about other places.

May 14, 2008, 6:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cancer Man

That's classified information. You did not hear anything about Burmecia.

WHY NOOOTTT?!?!?!

Quote:

And now I feel even more thick for .... oh, you get my point.

It's ok, we all have our moments *pats Dave on the head*

To add to the debate, so many parents have so many different ideas about what to teach or not teach their kids, Geography isn't always a priority (ZOMG ENGLISH N MATH!!!!) And just pulling out a map or globe doesn't always work either (kids must look at it and think wtf)

You can't really blame general parenting for lack of Geog skills because everyone has their different way. What worries me is that they go to school thinking Canada is in Leeds and the teachers don't bother to set them straight. Too busy with English and maths to bother with something like Geog. It pisses me off actually, because kids could probably learn better English by doing Geog or history projects if the teachers could be bothered to incorporate them, well at Primary level anyway

Funny how they spend so much time drilling English, but it doesn't go in does it?

But anyway, debate is for debate. Now I must find a map and see whereabouts Midgar is, I heard it's in Mexico somewhere.....

May 14, 2008, 6:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ARC-77

Dunno about encouraging kids to read though...they don't learn it very well in school and teaching it to your children in your spare time is a bit more of an undertaking than teaching them geography.

But I also think lack of geographical knowledge stems from America's self-importance. Most countries learn English as a second language, immigrants pour into our country on a daily basis for a chance at a better life, college grads (and even just highschool grads) have plenty of job opportunities, etc. With things like that going on, it sort of instills the idea (be it active or subconscious) that our country is super important and all that anyone ever needs, so there's really not much need to know about other places.

It should be a joint effort, I think. Too many kids don't start reading early enough.

True, America is a superpower, though where would it be without its trading partners? They are just as important as the US, in that respect, and Geography has real applications in many subjects and issues. You aren't gonna get very far if you can't pinpoint France, Germany, Brazil, etc, on a world map, unless you want to whore yourself out for "reality" TV.