The government schools stink. Sadly, it’s not new.
So...where are the parents? My kids learned basic geography through 99 cent world map placemats from Wal*Mart. When they got a bit older, we played the geography game after meals with them being allowed to use their placemats. Add to that an inflatable globe — a beach ball with a world map printed on it — and their curiosity naturally took over.
Do the parents not pay attention to earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, wars, or even The Olympics? Don’t parents share family stories about grandparents, or great grandparents, uncles/aunts, etc. who fought in foreign wars? Do they not pray for missionaries in foreign lands?
Seriously, this isn’t just a school problem, it’s a problem with the home and family as well.
I have always been amazed at how many people in NYC don't know their directions. They know uptown and downtown, instead of north and south. This has to be taught early in order to become second nature.
I was once trying to find out from someone if you walk north or south from the Queens train to get to a certain place, and she kept saying things like "Get off in the rear of the train" and "Walk in the direction the train just came from till you get to Junction Boulevard." I finally realized she didn't know north from south. Without uptown and downtown as in Manhattan, she didn't know how to describe it.
Or you ask someone, "Is it on the north or the south side of the street?" Blank.