TranceAddict Forums (www.tranceaddict.com/forums)
- Political Discussion / Debate
-- Global goofs: U.S. youth can't find Iraq
Pages (2): [1] 2 »

Global goofs: U.S. youth can't find Iraq

no offense to anyhow here .. but i just thought this kinda funny , some of you might have read it on the news already.. this one was published by CNN.com.

http://www.cnn.com/2002/EDUCATION/1...quiz/index.html

Global goofs: U.S. youth can't find Iraq

WASHINGTON (AP) --Young Americans may soon have to fight a war in Iraq, but most of them can't even find that country on a map, the National Geographic Society said Wednesday.

The society survey found that only about one in seven -- 13 percent -- of Americans between the age of 18 and 24, the prime age for military warriors, could find Iraq. The score was the same for Iran, an Iraqi neighbor.

Although the majority, 58 percent, of the young Americans surveyed knew that the Taliban and al Qaeda were based in Afghanistan, only 17 percent could find that country on a world map. A U.S.-led force attacked the Taliban and al Qaeda in Afghanistan in October 2001, and President Bush has said he is prepared to use force to rid Iraq of any chemical, nuclear or biological weapons programs.

The survey asked 56 geographic and current events questions of young people in nine countries and scored the results with traditional grades. The surveyed Americans got a "D," with an average of 23 correct answers. Mexico ranked last with an average score of 21, just three points from a failing grade.

Topping the scoring was Sweden, with an average of 40, followed by Germany and Italy, each with 38. None of the countries got an "A," which required average scores of 42 correct answers or better on the 56 questions.

"If our young people can't find places on a map and lack awareness of current events, how can they understand the world's cultural, economic and natural resource issues that confront us?" John Fahey, president of the National Geographic Society, said in a statement.

National Geographic is convening an international panel of policy makers and business and media leaders to find ways to improve geographic education and to encourage interest in world affairs, the society said.

Other findings from the survey:
� Thirty-four percent of the young Americans knew that the island used on last season's "Survivor" show was located in the South Pacific, but only 30 percent could locate the state of New Jersey on a map. The "Survivor" show's location was the Marquesas Islands in the eastern South Pacific.

� When asked to find 10 specific states on a map of the United States, only California and Texas could be located by a large majority of those surveyed. Both states were correctly located by 89 percent of the participants. Only 51 percent could find New York, the nation's third most populous state.

� On a world map, Americans could find on average only seven of 16 countries in the quiz. Only 89 percent of the Americans surveyed could find their own country on the map.

� In the world map test, Swedes could find an average of 13 of the 16 countries. Germans and Italians were next, with an average of 12 each.

� Only 71 percent of the surveyed Americans could locate on the map the Pacific Ocean, the world's largest body of water. Worldwide, three in 10 of those surveyed could not correctly locate the Pacific Ocean.

� Although 81 percent of the surveyed Americans knew that the Middle East is the Earth's largest oil exporter, only 24 percent could find Saudi Arabia on the map.

The international survey was conducted for the National Geographic by RoperASW. The results are based on face-to-face interviews with at least 300 men and women aged 18 to 24 in Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Sweden, Britain and the United States.

The questionnaires were in the local language, but the content was universally the same.

That doesn't surprise me

oh no! youve realised were stupid!

quote:

Originally posted by trancedfarmer oh no! youve realised were stupid!

don't worry, we all knew already

Hahhah

Yea that's pretty funny. Odd how one of the richest countries in the world has the stupidest youths. I blame it on mtv ...

That's actually pretty damn sad.
(and at the same time, pretty damn pathetic).

I think I'll do an experiment this weekend....

I don't find it funny, I find it bloody scary.

These people - who can't locate Iraq on a map - are the same people willing Bush to topple Saddam Hussein? How much of the support for the war amongst Amercian citizenry has been generated by actual "knowledge" and "rational thought" and how much of it has been generated by the propogation of the black/white school of morality that suggests "Saddam is an evil terrorist, lets kick his ass"?

Sorry, that's bullshit.

Yes, I'm sure that the average young male from other countries wouldn't do too much better, but still, you have to admit, it is a bit sad that these people are able to vote in elections that have the potential to drastically affect the rest of the world (given the United States' power globally).

quote:

Originally posted by Renegade I don't find it funny, I find it bloody scary. These people - who can't locate Iraq on a map - are the same people willing Bush to topple Saddam Hussein? How much of the support for the war amongst Amercian citizenry has been generated by actual "knowledge" and "rational thought" and how much of it has been generated by the propogation of the black/white school of morality that suggests "Saddam is an evil terrorist, lets kick his ass"? Sorry, that's bullshit. Yes, I'm sure that the average young male from other countries wouldn't do too much better, but still, you have to admit, it is a bit sad that these people are able to vote in elections that have the potential to drastically affect the rest of the world (given the United States' power globally).

yeah- it is scary. you see it in our schools (even colleges) all the time.. kids joke about arabs, joke about killing iraqis... its pathetic. and many are serious about their intent to destroy the iraqi government.

Yes I heard this on the news yesterday as well and wasn't impressed.

There was also a statement about lotsa people not managing to locate the Pacific ocean .... dammmm

quote:

Originally posted by Renegade I don't find it funny, I find it bloody scary. These people - who can't locate Iraq on a map - are the same people willing Bush to topple Saddam Hussein? How much of the support for the war amongst Amercian citizenry has been generated by actual "knowledge" and "rational thought" and how much of it has been generated by the propogation of the black/white school of morality that suggests "Saddam is an evil terrorist, lets kick his ass"? Sorry, that's bullshit. Yes, I'm sure that the average young male from other countries wouldn't do too much better, but still, you have to admit, it is a bit sad that these people are able to vote in elections that have the potential to drastically affect the rest of the world (given the United States' power globally).

well no flame war itended but are you aware how much the population has lifted up against the idea of going at war against Iraq? It's rather impressive!

and yes it's scary how uneducated the kids and adults can be at the same time

on a personnal note ...I lost 5 people in WTC ... and I would wish civilian deaths to no one, including Iraq.

quote:

Other findings from the survey: � Thirty-four percent of the young Americans knew that the island used on last season's "Survivor" show was located in the South Pacific, but only 30 percent could locate the state of New Jersey on a map. The "Survivor" show's location was the Marquesas Islands in the eastern South Pacific.

i found this statistic to be most interesting .. it really shows you the power of the media especially in the West .. reminds me about a lot of the stuff that i watched in Bowling for Columbine ..

While I won't deny there is a depressing and potentially dangerous degree of ignorance among young people in the US (and probably most other places as well), I must caution everyone against taking these kinds of things too seriously. My brother was selected to participate in one about high school students about two years ago, and he tells me he intentionally got all the hard ones right and all the easy ones wrong. He has a bit of a twisted sense of humor, but I don't doubt that many others share his penchant for invoking chaos in such things.

It's sort of expected. As Americans we have enjoyed a unusual sense of isolation from the rest of the world. There's no real significant need in our society to know what the capital of Kenya is, or where Thailand is located.

ignorance is bliss

thats whats so cool about america, you can be a total moran and still live a good life.

but ya its very very sad, disappointing and frustrating... damn americans and their lack of education (although it is nice for a laugh at thier expense here and there)

The EDUCATION SYSTEM in the USA is one of the worst in the world. South American countries ( which are poorer then the USA ) have smarter kids, and rank higher in terms of education then the US and rank Higher on the TIMMS test ( which is a test given to all the participating schools in the world ) and within this test, we can see how ignorant they actually are, even they president who has been joked around for not knowing geography ( which is true ) ...

The USA takes all the international smart brains, they give free VISAS and Scholarships to smart students around the world, why they do this instead of promoting and giving a better education to their own students ? .. mmmm

quote:

Originally posted by LiquidX The USA takes all the international smart brains, they give free VISAS and Scholarships to smart students around the world, why they do this instead of promoting and giving a better education to their own students ? .. mmmm

Because the changes that need to be made to the US public education system would be massively unpopular, so no-one has the guts to implement them.

I don't think it's so much the US education system that's at fault. I think that it's more so the mentality of American youth and how they are raised that creates this thinking that ignorance is cool. Give me a break, I went to a public school ... worked my ass off to get into a good college ... did well enough in college to get a good job ... and still had lots of time to party in between.

Just look at the culture of our society, MTV is embraced as the know all defining factor in what's cool and what's not. Everything is material, the flashier the things you have, the cooler you are. To be cool you have to be a thug and listen to your dick more than your brains. You want to know the reason why a lot of people in 3rd world countries have smarter kids? Because they're willing to embrace education and do anything to escape the poverty they live in. Plain in simple, many Americans are just plain spoiled, thinking a hard life is having a job in high school or college or not having a car. The statistics on obesity in the US can easily attest to that.

Jesus ... I'm barely old enough to drink and I sound like my dad haha

quote:

Originally posted by occrider You want to know the reason why a lot of people in 3rd world countries have smarter kids? Because they're willing to embrace education and do anything to escape the poverty they live in. Plain in simple, many Americans are just plain spoiled, thinking a hard life is having a job in high school or college or not having a car. The statistics on obesity in the US can easily attest to that.

hear hear, great posts.
but then you also got your lower class mainly african-american group of people who despite not having anything still dont aspire to great education and being smart makes you uncool. but ya i tend to agree that its not all the education system's fault but also the mentality as you said

quote:

Originally posted by PeacefulWarrior There's no real significant need in our society to know what the capital of Kenya is, or where Thailand is located.

uhh .. sure there is .. your government (for good or ill) acts as the world's policeman, and you have the power to vote them in or out ...

for this reason alone americans in general should take more of an interest in world affairs (that don't directly involve america) .. america's isolationist policies ended on Dec 7 1941

I dont have a problem with the US to take clever pupils from all over the world. Fits well to my urge to leave this god damn provincial country

quote:

Originally posted by trancedfarmer yeah- it is scary. you see it in our schools (even colleges) all the time.. kids joke about arabs, joke about killing iraqis... its pathetic. and many are serious about their intent to destroy the iraqi government.

It helps to put things into perspective...
being an American I find arab talk about killing Americans more concerning... BTW, I know a few people who joke about killing Iraqis, but it's lighthearted silly talk, these arab people are serious about killing us. Everything negative you see about your fellow Americans pales in comparison to what the arabs are saying about us... and much of it is hateful propaganda by arab governments & al-queda

About Geography : Geography isn't that important... I fail to see why anyone needs to know where x is on the map. Besides, I could probably point out more countries than almost everyone on this board, but I dont find that information terribly important, I just find it interesting. I like maps and knowing where things are.

quote:

Originally posted by occrider Just look at the culture of our society, MTV is embraced as the know all defining factor in what's cool and what's not. Everything is material, the flashier the things you have, the cooler you are. To be cool you have to be a thug and listen to your dick more than your brains. You want to know the reason why a lot of people in 3rd world countries have smarter kids? Because they're willing to embrace education and do anything to escape the poverty they live in. Plain in simple, many Americans are just plain spoiled, thinking a hard life is having a job in high school or college or not having a car. The statistics on obesity in the US can easily attest to that. Jesus ... I'm barely old enough to drink and I sound like my dad haha

MTV is beneath me, it is unwatchable for me, even the cartoon network represents a higher form of intelligence. I love my cartoons.

some americans (even the older folks) don't even know how many world wars there were.

i saw this on CNNNN (australians will know what i'm talking about)

quote:

Originally posted by dr me some americans (even the older folks) don't even know how many world wars there were. i saw this on CNNNN (australians will know what i'm talking about)

yeah... I hope we wont have a second..

quote:

Originally posted by Arbiter Because the changes that need to be made to the US public education system would be massively unpopular, so no-one has the guts to implement them.

and can you imagine what the world would be like with educated americans???

question to the American people: Do you guys get Geography at school? Or do you only learn the 50 states of the U.S.?

we learned all the countries from Europe, Southern America, Asia and Africa when I was 10 years old (not North-America because that would be too easy )

I still know all the Asian countries and most of the African countries...

Powered by: vBulletin
Copyright © 2000-2021, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.