Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I don't think it's "anymore" as much as it has always been. I was in elementary school from 1992 - 2000, and I remember doing these exercises called "D.O.G." or "daily oral geography". It was a joke, to be honest, since it consisted of a few geographic tidbits at the beginning of class for about ten minutes at the most. These exercises alternated with "D.O.L." or "daily oral language", and the latter was usually more emphasized than geography. This is an example of poorly instilling a sense of value or appreciation for geography, in my opinion. Since I was always interested in the subject, elementary school admittedly was not my source of information for such topics.
Moreover, our social studies books were curiously outdated. Coming from a middle-class, fairly decent neighborhood with good-quality schools, in retrospect I am rather surprised we used such junk. For example, I remember an anecdote where my sixth grade teacher (this was 1999 or 2000) had us do some geography questions. One of them was, "Which countries border Poland?" Being from Poland, I was rather excited this was a question; I already knew the answer but we were given some time to look up the answers anyway. I consulted the book just to be sure, and well, since it was from 1989, it was already wrong. I couldn't believe when my teacher, though, accepted East Germany and Czechoslovakia as an answer. There was no explanation of "this is an old book" or "these countries are now called Germany and Czech Rep. and Slovakia". The lack of explanation or a follow-up, or any real enthusiasm for the subject, I think, reflects low interest in the subject (whether in the USA or abroad).
Schools do not instill a sense of value for knowing your geography, in my opinion. Other topics such as math, language, or science take up the majority of the curriculum. I think this is unfortunate.
Americans really don't know much about anything these days if it's not on TV or an app on their phone. Education for education's sake isn't valued at all.
If you didn't grow up on your hands and knees on the living room floor ruining your eyes looking at maps in bad light, it's probably too late for you to start learning Geography. And collecting stamps doesn't work anymore, there is no such thing as a stamp these days.
While in Philadelphia I met a group of girls who were college students at Drexel. During introductions I informed them I was from Minneapolis. This is how the rest of the conversation went:
Girl 1: Minneapolis? Like Indiana?
Girl 2: No, Minnesota right?
Me: Yes, Minnesota
Girl 1: Oh, Minnesota? I thought it was Indianapolis, Indiana?
Girl 2: Yes, there's an Indianapolis in Minnesota too.
Me: No, it's Minneapolis, Minnesota
Girl 2: Yeah, Minnesota is by Washington, like in the North, like Northwest, Right?
Girl 1: Yeah, like Northwest?
Me: Um, no.
If you didn't grow up on your hands and knees on the living room floor ruining your eyes looking at maps in bad light, it's probably too late for you to start learning Geography. And collecting stamps doesn't work anymore, there is no such thing as a stamp these days.
Yeah, unless you read and write I guess you'll never know how to speak.
I call BS. This type of stuff is stuff that should be general knowledge, like 1 + 2 = 3 or, the difference between Your and You're. This is further evidence of the idiocracy of America.
"Hmm? What state is Atlanta in?"
:::I've actually heard that before:::
Or from the clown I met in San Diego:
"Wow, you guys actually get summers in Minnesota? I thought it was way too far north to get nice weather in the summer."
Location: Mableton, GA USA (NW Atlanta suburb, 4 miles OTP)
11,334 posts, read 26,086,242 times
Reputation: 3995
Most movies are shot in California, and the networks tend to focus on either the east or the west coasts.
Does the country really have a center, or is it a myth?
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
