Stupid in America


The nation’s schools and the job they’re doing…or not doing…are back in the news.
A few weeks ago, ABC’s John Stossell did a special report on 20-20 called Stupid in America…accusing the nation’s public school system of not properly educating their students.

And now there’s new evidence to back him up.

Did you hear about study concerning young people’s knowledge of geography?
he National Geographic Roper Public Affairs study for 2006, found that two-thirds of Americans between the ages of 18 and 24 cannot find Iraq on a map.

That’s right…Iraq. That means only one third of college-age students…who presumably took history and geography in high school…can’t find on a map, the country that has been in the news virtually everyday for four years.

In the same study…only 12 percent of those kids asked to do so could find Afghanistan on a map of Asia.

Wait…it gets worse…

The study found that 33 percent of those questioned could not point out Louisiana on a U.S. map despite all the news about Hurricane Katrina.

Almost 60 percent couldn’t point out the state of Ohio on a map…and believe it or not…50 percent of these late teens and early 20-somethings couldn’t even point out New York.

Think they’re exaggerating?

If you ever catch any of those so-called “Jay-Walking� segments with Jay Leno on the Tonight Show…showing young people not able to identify pictures of George Washington or Abraham Lincoln…you’ll know they’re not making up this stuff.

Who’s to blame?

Schools, teachers, parents, the media, and of course, these young people themselves who make up Stupid in America.

http://www.abc24.com/news/news_comme...C-E290D4C140F8

Back home, I had a visitor from England...

He was asked, " where are you from?"

"England", he replied

"What state is that in?,"was the response.

***

Let me not even start on how many times I am asked where in London do you live? As if it's one huge country named London (just next to Paris, btw) with the city of England in it.

Well it would take me a minute to point out Ohio and Louisiana on a map if they weren't labled and I lived in the damn country,LOL.

I can only confindently tell you where Cali,Alaska,New York ,Pennsylvania,Connecticut,Kansas and Florida are on a map without names.

I'm a lot better at countries though,but ask me to name all 53 countries in Africa and id be stumped.

overall dumbing down of the country..



lower standards....to assure that people pass..and generations and generations of fools and buffoons.....



certain information is no longer considered relevant..... people can only speak about what's directly in front of their faces...don't ask people about anything from even last year, much less 10 years ago...

an overall trend...and even worse among our people over here....because we're tricked into thinking that the only thing that matters is today....

Where was this study taken? at the George W Bush and Dan Quayle academy of stuff we said we knew at junior high? They shouldn’t worry, you don’t need to know stuff to be president or vice president, jus make sure Mommy and Daddy are rich.

@ JB

Youaren't the average person with the average education level though

(... sometimes I struggle to think you are even normal )

I jest. ((ducks JB's shoe))

Anyhoo, it should be basic education at the least to know your own country and the "general" area of most countries... some people I have talked to can't tell you what lies beyond K-Mart.

Dan Quayle also spelled potato, potatoe.

Anyone who has children in this country and thinks that they can expect their children to get a quality education without doing anything extra at home is kidding themselves. There is so much emphasis placed on these assessment exams that the public schools are not teaching anymore. They are only preparing for the tests. Most public schools in this country have removed world geography from the cirriculum.

My US cousin;

[align=center]''Is Paris in France or is France in Paris?''[/align]
[align=center]confused3[/align]
Have to say though that there is a New England in the US and some places were named after European places when they firstmoved there. Theres Camden for example, I think every city in England has a US version and a good few European ones.

Still, the dumbing down isin the UK as well.

A school friend (18);

[align=center]''What youreading dembooks for?''[/align]

So far everything written is the truth, the average America is a moron.

This is very true and believe me I have the best first hand experiance with it ! I went to the united states to work last summer on a summer camp, and there was also loads of other international on the camp from all around the world from spain to sweden to france to australia, all were great people. I remember, the most amount of dumb a*s comments the kids would give towards the international staff, it was to stupid.

American kid to Australian .... "Do you live in huts"

American kid to english ..... "Where do you get food from in england, do you have like any shops and stuff"

Dumba*s american kid again to australian " How did you get here, did you swim, (with serious look on face) "

I can't even begin to say what the other kids were saying because it's so ignorant ... oh and I also had about an 2 hour debate with a 13 year old child ...(yes 13) about how I COULD NOT POSSIBLY be from england because I'm black ! He was convinced I was lying !

That being said, BELIEVE ME, England has it's fair share of rocket scientists...

take Jade Goody for example, multiply her by a couple hundred thousand and you've got the braintrust of greater Manchester... the US has no lock on morons.