Young adults in the United States fail to understand the world and their place in it, according to a survey-based report on geographic literacy released today.
Take Iraq, for example. Despite nearly constant news coverage since the war there began in 2003, 63 percent of Americans aged 18 to 24 failed to correctly locate the country on a map of the Middle East. 70 percent could not find Iran or Israel.
Nine in ten couldn’t find Afghanistan on a map of Asia.
And 54 percent were unaware that Sudan is a country in Africa.
Remember the December 2004 tsunami and the widespread images of devastation in Indonesia?
Three-quarters of respondents failed to find that country on a map. And three-quarters were unaware that a majority of Indonesia’s population is Muslim, making it the largest Muslim country in the world. “Young Americans just don’t seem to have much interest in the world outside of the U.S.,” said David Rutherford, a specialist in geography education at the National Geographic Society in Washington, D.C.
…Even for U.S. geography, the survey results are just as dismal.
Half could not find New York State on a map of the United States.
A third of the respondents could not find Louisiana, and 48 percent couldn’t locate Mississippi on a map of the United States, even though Hurricane Katrina put these southeastern states in the spotlight in 2005.
Many young Americans also lack basic map-reading skills.
Told they could escape an approaching hurricane by evacuating to the northwest, only two-thirds could indicate which way northwest is on a map.
Perhaps even more worrisome is the finding that few U.S. young adults seem to care.
Fewer than three in ten think it’s absolutely necessary to know where countries in the news are located. Only 14 percent believe speaking another language fluently is a necessary skill.
Fewer than one in five young Americans own a world map. [full report]
Luckily Americans have the guidance and leadership of George W. Bush.
Definition of Superpower: the blind leading the stupid
There is an interesting article defending American youth and their lack of map reading skills at http://www.irishstrangler.com/wordpress/?p=148
Bro, what do you expect from a country where only 8% of the population even has a passport?
It’s pretty sad how people can’t locate even Israel or Iraq on a map, and not even bother to care, and this is coming from a US resident mind you.
In other news, the sky was found to be blue, and water reportedly wet. Report at 11.
Unfortunately, we don’t make geography any kind of priority in US education. We should. But when your country only borders two others, many people just don’t care.
/knows where Bhutan is 🙂
Give me a break…How would Jordanian kids do if they got the same test..or Egyptian..or English..or Russian..come on!!
BP, show a map of the world to any Jordanian between the ages of 18 and 24 and ask him to point out Israel, America, and the UK as well as Irbid and Aqaba and I’ll bet you $100 they’ll get it right.
actually forget 18 to 24…tell a 12 year old sheep herder that he needs to evacuate to the northwest and he’ll know where to go.
BP – the point is, a Jordanian might not be able to find Bangladesh, Ukraike or maybe the Czech Republic on a map, probably because they don’t count in his or her every day life, but the countries Nas mentioned above, certainly. And same applies to an America. No one would expect an American to find the Samoa Islands on a map. But Iraq? Israel? NO? REALLY????? Countries, like Afghanistan, that they had gone to WAR with???
For someone who had gone to highschool for a short period of time in Canada, then went back there for university, I am still appalled at the levels of ignorance I encountered. These kids go through highschool learning about their country’s history and geography, and no one else’s. No one else’s is important enough. Geographically speaking, the two countries more or less live in their own world, cut off from everything by Mexico, kind of. So really, why concern themselves with whatever is happening on the other side of the pond? It’s holy to be American, and sucks to be everything else. That’s the attitude, generally.
No excuse for this kind of ignorance, in a country where education if for one and all, and free. Come on.
Well guys, it is not a problem of bad teaching in geography or maths or whatever. The supposed rich and powerful country should improve an educative system where it is more valuated patriotism that good marks.
Anyway, dont think big guys from washinton may like to find people in their country that really thinks. It is not good to keep the control of economy and the country. So lets them make dumber and dumber.
last year I got a visitor from US in my city in Spain. He asked to me if we had theaters… for heavens sake! we discovered america while they were hanging on the trees…
more about what I think: http://cocosworld.wordpress.com/2006/05/03/fucking-idiots-jodidos-estupidos/
every once in a while someone does a survey testing how stupid american students are, and inevitably, american students fail miserably.
and this article is even worse than nas’ excerpt suggest. later in the same article:
as an american who spent his childhood flipping through atlases, things like this blow my mind.
what can i say? it’s a national embarrassment. my only defense is to say we’re not all that ignorant. i’m sure there are six or seven people in my own home city who are aware that we stole its name from the town now known as amman
So what? I mean it might imply ignorance but it wouldn’t make much differance if they knew most of the answers or not, anyway, If Bill Gates didn’t know that Indonesia is the largest muslim country in the world or that Iraq is east of Jordan does that make him an idiot? I don’t think so. He’s still talented at what he does and geography won’t write him any line of code as far as he’s concerned. This whole survey shouldn’t even matter to anyone except americans, but I guess some people like hearing this stuff because they just don’t like the US. Anyway, in the end it’s all a matter of perception.
I think most missed the point, when a superpower nation is on the top of the world, why should its people know about the rest if they r already on the top? like the pyramid, the ones on the bottom look at the top, and the one on the top doesn’t look anywhere but at the sky. An American citizen won’t care much to know about Jordan or Iraq since it doesn’t affect him much, all he cares about is how to pay his taxes and get paid monthly. However the countries underneath the superpower always tend to worry a lot about the rest of the world, and get its brains busy about important or unimportant news 24/7 while they are not advancing much. …etc
Salam