Jackson Free Press

Despite the wall-to-wall coverage of the damage from Hurricane Katrina, nearly one-third of young Americans recently polled couldn't locate Louisiana on a map and nearly half were unable to identify Mississippi.
Americans between the ages of 18 and 24 fared even worse with foreign locations: six in 10 couldn't find Iraq, according to a Roper poll conducted for National Geographic.

"Geographic illiteracy impacts our economic well-being, our relationships with other nations and the environment, and isolates us from the world," National Geographic president John Fahey said in announcing a program to help remedy the problem. It's hoping to enlist businesses, non-profit groups and educators in a bid to improve geographic literacy.

Planned is a five-year, multimedia campaign called My Wonderful World that will target children 8 to 17. The goal is to motivate parents and educators to expand geographic offerings in school, at home and in their communities.

They will have their task cut out for them, judging by the results of the survey of 510 people interviewed in December and January.

Read the entire article here:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-05-02-geography-poll_x.htm?csp=24

Previous Comments

ID

105892

Comment

This brought to mind when I was in the 10th grade and had to label a map of the United States. I was able to name and locate 38 out of 50 states at that time. My teacher, who was also a football coach told me: "Cyrus, you did great, especially for a black kid." Some in the class thought that was a horrible thing for a teacher to say, though I being the "eternal optimist" took it as a compliment--- at least at that time. This says so much about us today. And it really puts things in perspective when students are given television, movies and games as babysitters.

Author

c a webb

Date

2006-05-02T15:33:44-06:00

ID

105893

Comment

The campaign should prove pretty nice. As you say, it does put things in perspective because kids/students are no longer learning reality (beauties of the world) but rather fantasy.

Author

lilsoulja

Date

2006-05-03T13:05:39-06:00