Geography Game

[Jason-Sasha 1]

Newport News (Va)

[Jason-Sasha 1]

I have a funny Geography story....Why is it that many US citizens that I have come in contact with think of the US as being the only country in America? I'm serious It's so funny and so stupid, and franky it gets on my nerves that the public school system failed many people miserably in the GEOGRAPHY department. I saw a nes cast that showed that many of them dont even know the Atlantic from the Pacific Ocean. ITS SO SAD. How can people be raised to think that the US is only one that makes up all of America?

A funny story.....

Last night my brothers, sisters. and I went to a MANA concert in Houston. Well as we were driving around looking for parking we spoted a place so we parked happily and this "gringa" aka your typical Caucasian lady quickly ran up to us to charge us. So my brother asks "her how much is it" And the lady looked at us retarded and said in her blond moment voice " like why would I take 10 pesos we are in America ... this is Ameica." LOL and I just had to laugh and said BINGO darling America is comprised of other countries not just the USA you know. She looked at us retarded when I told her that America also reffered to Canada and Mexico and then there was central and south America that had more American countires that could be taged along if she wanted to be more precise, then the poor thing got even more confused. I then in a joking voice I said to her Mexicans are Americans too you know. Maybe they are not US citizens but they sure are American. She was so perplexed...... jajaja. Any ways we gave her 10 dls and went off our marry way. I was so tempted to give her 10 pesos as a joke LOL. Some times it just bothers me that people say America as the one and only as if the rest of the continent does not exist or matter. Maybe people were just trained to think that way because of the influence that the US has at a global scale. Still their educational ignorance bothers me. I wish political scince, and geography teachers could help break that idiotic train of thought early on.

Actually.....no.

NORTH America is comprised of the United States of AMERICA, Canada, and Mexico.

Collectively, North America, Central America, and South America are known as The Americas - NOT "America".

America = the USA. Say "America" to almost anyone on the planet, and they will assume you mean the US.

How many Canadians do you think would like to be known as "Americans"?

Very true! We "Americans" dont believe that we are the only country in North America. But if one of us were in any other country we would be labeled as "Americans". If a Mexica or canadian was in that same country they would be labeled as "Mexicans" and "Canadians". Sorry your feelings are so hurt about this. It's just the way it is.

[The_dip_sticks 0]

I was talking about the 2 continents in general north and south America. =) Given that North America is made up of Canada, US and Mexico, I figured that people can't possibly be that stupid not to know that.

True, Canadiens or maybe some one else who is not a NON US citizen to be correct, would not like to be called "American" but the fact is that US citzens are not the ONLY "Americans" per say in terms of geography and thats what I was talking about. Whether countries are north or south they are still part of the Americas no matter what way you take it.

I have traveled to many places over seas that are NOT part of any American continent and when I said just "America" in some cases, people asked me what country was I reffering to. So you see not every one in other countries singles out the US automatically in terms of "America", maybe its only a small percentage though. Actually I think its depressing that young us citizens are not encouraged to know more geography than what they are used to. Some of these headlines are sad.

<a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/05/02/national/main1571756.shtml" target="_blank">

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/05/02/...in1571756.shtml</a>

Where's Iraq? Young Adults Don't Know

Study Finds Americans 18-24 Remarkably Uninformed About Geography

U.S. Main Page

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Reading, Writing, Arithmetic

Is The 'No Child Left Behind' Law Leaving Kids Dumber?

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U.S. Kids Not Quite On The Map

Basic Geography Scores Up, Proficiency Level Still 'Unacceptable'

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Young Americans Get D In Geography

Few Locate Iraq, Afghanistan; Find 'Survivor' Island More Often Than N.J.

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Where In The World Is Iraq?

Surveys Show Most Young Adults Don't Have A Clue

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Private School Flunks Geography

Lesson Plan Included Teaching Immigrants There Are 53 States

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WASHINGTON, May 2, 2006

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(AP / CBS)

Quote

"It's easy to be isolated from everything else. It's easy to think ... 'all I need to know is right here and I don't need to worry about what's happening in those other places."

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John Fahey, National Geographic president

(CBS/AP) Even though their country has been at war there for three years, six in 10 young American adults were unable to locate Iraq on a map of the world, a survey found.

They did little better with their own country: Despite the wall-to-wall coverage of the damage from Hurricane Katrina, nearly one-third of Americans between the ages of 18 and 24 could not locate Louisiana, and nearly half were unable to identify Mississippi, 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 is hoping to enlist businesses, nonprofit groups and educators in a bid to improve geographic literacy.

"Only 50 percent of the kids could find New York State on a map of the United States, and only slightly better than that for Louisiana, and particularly, given what we all have gone through in Louisiana recently, I was just really surprised to see that," Fahey told CBS Radio News.

Planned is a five-year, multimedia campaign called My Wonderful World that will target children ages 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.

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.

"Reading maps — you know, getting from one place to the next, in terms of driving or walking, of course, was viewed as important, but being able to find a place, particularly outside of this country, on a map, was not viewed by the majority to be an important thing," Fahey said.

How come?

"It's easy to be isolated from everything else. It's easy to think that culturally, geographically, in terms of one's experience, in terms of media, 'all I need to know is right here and I don't need to worry about what's happening in those other places,'" Fahey said.

"Geography exposes children and adults to diverse cultures, different ideas and the exchange of knowledge from around the world," said Anna Marie Weselak, president of the National PTA. "This campaign will help make sure our children get their geography — so they can become familiar with other cultures during their school years and move comfortably and confidently in a global economy as adults."

Edited September 4, 2007 by The_dip_sticks

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