While chatting with my friends on MSN last night, one of them sent me a link of a video that is currently circulating the Internet. Miss Teen South Carolina's 2007 response to the question, "recent polls have shown a 5th of Americans can't locate the US on a world map. Why do you think this is?" While her response was more than amusingly funny since not a single soul could decifer what her answer was. However, this question did make me think of how alarming these statistics really are.
The level of education that citizens have, in this case geographical studies, reflects alot on the overall national level of education, the nation's economy, and weakens the relationship with other nations around the world. According to a recent survey taken by the Roper Poll, it was found that 63% of young Americans could not locate Iraq on the map, and 48% were unable to locate Mississippi or Louisiana. Although there is no proof that Americans have the lowest level of geographical knowledge in the world, it is important for the government as well as privately owned institutions to take these numbers into consideration and act upon them. If we do not take action now, each new generation will only suffer with lower levels of general education. It is only for benefit that it is important for anyone, not just Americans, to have a good sense of geography, learn another language other than their maternal tongue, and be an all around "world citizen".
For a good laugh: Miss Teen USA 2007 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj3iNxZ8Dww&NR=1
3 comments:
While I do agree with you, that video is amusing, I'm not sure that I hold the belief that America is in danger of becoming a culture of lost people unable to follow a map or locate a country. "Statistics have shown that 25% of statistics are wrong." Ever heard that saying? I don't know about you but I know, for a fact, that no one has ever approached me and actually asked me where Iraq, the US, or Louisiana are. With that being said, how can they or how can you be so sure that the one fifth stat is entirely true? Many stats are misleading in how they are worded or in the graphs that portray them, etc. Just one example would be babies! They could claim that millions of people in the US can't point to their homeland on a map but they don't tell you the age or anything, for that matter, of the people they surveyed. Just a thought.
--Wanderer
I had heard about the video; thanks, it is funny. And sad. The young woman was not prepared to answer a question that points to a problem with public education in the US. In spite of "No Child Left Behind," there is an unacceptable gap between the education of the rich in this country and the education of the poor. What fifth of the American population do you think cannot locate the US on a map? While Miss South Carolina's answer was ridiculous, I can imagine some kids growing up in the US with teachers in their classrooms who don't know Montana from Idaho.
I pity this girl. Sure, it is not entirely her fault that her education lacked proper geography, but still...has intellectual curiosity evaporated off the face of the planet? Just because you are not taught things in school doesn't it mean your learning has to stop there. And sure, some people have limited resources, but this girl does not appear to be one of them. I believe she is just one of many Americans who has little appreciation for the world as a whole. The US tends to house some of the most ethnocentric people...I guess everyone is just too caught up in their lives to bother with the many interesting and diverse cultures of the Asian countries, or European cities, or fascinating South American landmarks.
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