A recent poll conducted by National Geographic on 18-24 year old Americans found that this group basicall doesn't know jack about geography. This is not really a surprise to me, but a few things are pretty unacceptable. Not knowing where ISRAEL is? Or Iraq, for crying out loud? Or hell, even Louisiana? Unfortunately, I'd be willing to bet that if they'd surveyed people age 24 and up, the results wouldn't be that different.
I guess what irritates me about these results is not only America's geographic ignorance (especially when compared with other countries'), but how we really do think WE, as the USA, make the world go 'round. English being the most widely-spoken native language... gimme a break here, guys. Only 14% think it's important to speak more than one language... sad. And the Mexican border being the most heavily fortified in the world?
Yeah, alllllll 2,000 miles of it, solid steel... :Hmm:
Anyway, here's a link to the whole article, with a quote of some findings below:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12591413/
Quote:
Among the findings:
One-third of respondents couldn’t pinpoint Louisiana on a map and 48 percent were unable to locate Mississippi.
Fewer than three in 10 think it important to know the locations of countries in the news and just 14 percent believe speaking another language is a necessary skill.
Two-thirds didn’t know that the earthquake that killed 70,000 people in October 2005 occurred in Pakistan.
Six in 10 could not find Iraq on a map of the Middle East.
While the outsourcing of jobs to India has been a major U.S. business story, 47 percent could not find the Indian subcontinent on a map of Asia.
While Israeli-Palestinian strife has been in the news for the entire lives of the respondents, 75 percent were unable to locate Israel on a map of the Middle East.
Nearly three-quarters incorrectly named English as the most widely spoken native language.
Six in 10 did not know the border between North and South Korea is the most heavily fortified in the world. Thirty percent thought the most heavily fortified border was between the United States and Mexico.
|