Are You Smarter than the Average Teen?
A recent survey by the Leaders of Common Core found that many teens are disturbingly ignorant of literature and history. When asked, almost 50 percent of teens did not know why Job was such and important figure in the Bible. The same percentage could not identify when Christopher Columbus sailed to the Americas, nor could they identify when the Civil War was fought. Another study by the National Geographic Society reported that 87 percent of young people could not find Iraq, 49 percent could not find New York, and even 11 percent could not find the United States on a map.
The Leaders of Common Core went on to blame President Bush's No Child Left Behind law, because it puts too much emphasis on math and reading testing over a good liberal arts curriculum. However, that may not be the only reason. Ignorance is not necessarily new. I know many adults who went to school long before NCLB went into effect, and they remain ignorant on many of those same questions. Look at shows like "Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?" The show exploits people's ignorance to the things they were taught back when they were in elementary school.
However, is it important to issue blame or find solutions? I know Christian teens that know more about their Bibles than history or literature. It is because the education they got in church was better than what they received in their schools. What do you think? Do you think your school is doing enough to give you a well-rounded education, or do you think that there could be improvements?
By the way, Job was significant for his praise of God even in the midst of great suffering. Christopher Columbus "sailed the ocean blue in fourteen hundred and ninety-two." The Civil War was fought between the Union and Confederacy from 1861 to 1865.
Comments
You seem to be assuming that there is a simple correlation between quality of education and what learning the average person retains later in life. You should first prove that premise. It is entirely possible that most people remember little of what they learned in 5th grade simply because much of it is not necessary for survival. Also, it is important to note that the percentage of people who are smart and have excellent memory is quite small. I think the fact that most people are pretty ignorant has more to do with our culture where you get accused of being elitist if you are intelligent. In our culture there is more cache in being “just folks” (ie. stupid) than there is with being an intellectual elite.
I hereby declare you an elitist. Sure, I’m Christian, but are you calling all teenagers stupid? Just because they can’t remember what they learned in 2nd grade? And I’m sure that if you test adults you’ll get similar results. So watch your mouth before you open it to say something you’ll regret.