Posted on 11/20/2002 11:50:02 AM PST by anguish
By PAUL RECER, AP Science Writer
WASHINGTON - Ask young people to pick out Iraq on a map of the Middle East, and only 13 percent can locate it — despite a barrage of headlines and broadcast reports about a possible war against President Saddam Hussein.
Same goes for Israel or Iran, according to a National Geographic study that finds there has been little to no improvement in students' knowledge of geography since 1988.
The society survey released Wednesday found that only about one in seven of Americans between the age of 18 and 24, the prime age for military warriors, could find Iraq. The score was the same for Iran, an Iraqi neighbor.
Although the majority, 58 percent, of the young Americans surveyed knew that the Taliban and al-Qaida were based in Afghanistan, only 17 percent could find that country on a world map. A U.S.-led force attacked the Taliban and al-Qaida in Afghanistan in October 2001, and President Bush has said he is prepared to use force to rid Iraq of any chemical, nuclear or biological weapons programs.
The survey asked 56 geographic and current events questions of young people in nine countries and scored the results with traditional grades. The surveyed Americans got a "D," with an average of 23 correct answers. Mexico ranked last with an average score of 21, just three points from a failing grade.
Topping the scoring was Sweden, with an average of 40, followed by Germany and Italy, each with 38. None of the countries got an "A," which required average scores of 42 correct answers or better on the 56 questions.
"If our young people can't find places on a map and lack awareness of current events, how can they understand the world's cultural, economic and natural resource issues that confront us?" John Fahey, president of the National Geographic Society, said in a statement.
National Geographic is convening an international panel of policy makers and business and media leaders to find ways to improve geographic education and to encourage interest in world affairs, the society said.
Other findings from the survey:
_Thirty-four percent of the young Americans knew that the island used on last season's "Survivor" television show was located in the South Pacific, but only 30 percent could locate the state of New Jersey on a map. The "Survivor" show's location was the Marquesas Islands in the eastern South Pacific.
_When asked to find 10 specific states on a map of the United States, only California and Texas could be located by a large majority of those surveyed. Both states were correctly located by 89 percent of the participants. Only 51 percent could find New York, the nation's third most populous state.
_On a world map, Americans could find on average only seven of 16 countries in the quiz. Only 89 percent of the Americans surveyed could find their own country on the map.
_In the world map test, Swedes could find an average of 13 of the 16 countries. Germans and Italians were next, with an average of 12 each.
_Only 71 percent of the surveyed Americans could locate on the map the Pacific Ocean, the world's largest body of water. Worldwide, three in 10 of those surveyed could not correctly locate the Pacific Ocean.
_Although 81 percent of the surveyed Americans knew that the Middle East is the Earth's largest oil exporter, only 24 percent could find Saudi Arabia on the map.
The international survey was conducted for the National Geographic by RoperASW. The results are based on face-to-face interviews with at least 300 men and women aged 18 to 24 in Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Sweden, Britain and the United States.
The questionnaires were in the local language, but the content was universally the same.
LOL - there's long been a different standard for what constitutes "educated" in Europe versus here. At the risk of seriously overgeneralizing and stereotyping, the emphasis in America has, for a long time, been on practical, pragmatic sorts of useful knowledge, whereas in Europe the standard has been that one should be as well-rounded and as much of a Renaissance Man as possible - a brilliant scientist or engineer who couldn't speak intelligently on art, literature, or music would be considered hopelessly uneducated and uncultured. It's the difference between a mobile, pragmatic, egalitarian society and a sclerotic, romantic, class-obsessed society (take that, Euro-weenies!)
I'd almost compare living in Europe & knowing about European countries to living in the USA & knowing about states.
Well, that's it exactly. You're supposed to know about Europe because Europe is the center of the universe, dammit. And you're just supposed to ignore how incredibly ignorant they are about the provinces...err, USA. They can't for the life of them imagine how a man like GWB could be elected by a sane society, so they reach for the only remaining explanation - we're all nuts. Nevermind that this betrays an incredible arrogance and ignorance about American culture and society - we're not supposed to have those things anyway ;)
Actually I think I could get them all except maybe the UAE and Oman. I might be able to guess them but would not be sure.
One young man who worked for us had to go pick up something in south Texas. When he came back, he wanted to know if we knew the water in the Gulf was salty?
The national group for SOCIAL STUDIES TEACHERS were meeting in Dallas. When asked by local hosts what they would like to do for entertainment, they wanted to go to Mexico one evening. They had NO IDEA that it would take all day just to get there by bus!
Hint: their home country was between Iraq and Turkey.
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