Study: Geography Greek to young Americans

['7']

Nowadays if you can't prove to a student why he absolutely needs to know something...he won't learn it. Kids nowadays talk about their "hectic lives" balancing soccer, hockey, piano lessons etc, and on top of that you have to fit in with friends and be cool. Children don't have enough down time to just sit around, be bored, and let the mind wander. That's where creativity and curiosity is born, and a desire to learn something that you don' t necessarily need to know, but interests you.

I don't know why I was interested in Geography, English, Art and not Math, but to me it was infinitely more embarrassing to not know where Latvia was on a map, or not know how to paint a picture, or how to build a treehouse...than to not know why xyt543 = sd435^s.

Back in the day people were bored out of their minds, any book they came across was like finding buried treasure. You had to make your own fun, and you were learning as you go along.

It just amazes me as to how narrow people's interests are nowadays. There are so few independent thinkers and free spirits.

['7']

This has got me thinking... Our technical knowledge in ALL fields has gotten vastly deeper over the last half-century. Universities used to produce "well-rounded" students, which seems to be what a lot of people still expect. But a "well-rounded" person is no longer going to be able to get a decent job, they need to have very specific technical skills. As an engineer, I had to take dozens of math, science, and engineering courses. It would have taken me another four years to take all of those classes in literature, history, languages, arts, and so on that used to produce those "well-rounded" students. Jack-of-all-trades, master of none, as the saying goes.

still, I don't think you have an excuse for not knowing about lit, history etc. You just have to make up the deficit yourself somehow. Just because you didn't have time to learn it in college doesn't mean it's not important.

Now I'm not picking on anybody here, but when you're selling yourself to somebody, be it an employer or a hot babe...you've got to sound smart and well rounded.

And just because a student took all those classes doesn't mean he came out well rounded in the end, most of the learning takes place outside the classroom on your own time researching on the internet or in libraries....does this still occur? Only when you take an active interest in something will it stick in your head.

[Belizarius]

Of course I agree with you mddevsfan...

Back on the topic, I think most of the western civilization today has a limited interest on the world. I mean, everybody talk about communities. Even here, we're talking about hockey, living in small hockey fans groups...

Creating these communities is nice because you can talk about your passions but it also have some limits. Because it's closing you on some other things and doesn't bring you the contradiction, the "other" point of view.

There's not only one way of thinking, never. Knowing other countries and cultures exist just show you a different aspect of a cristal...

For studies it's just the same. Every youngster has to deal with pressure from school, society, parents and even friends in their communities of interest (sports, music and so on). You just have to be perfect in a few topics to be a part of a little society, this community of interest.

And you don't want to waste any time of what you think is useless... But nothing, never, is useless. The difference and originality can make a difference on a job. If you want to work in the international trade, knowing geography can help you to land a job vs somebody who has no clue about it. Same for learning another language.

Originality and difference can make you intersting for a job and sometimes the most surprising thing of your career can help making you a different candidate.

For example, I didn't expect to have a chance for a job in an university a few months ago because of my passion for hockey... the women who convocated me had a son who played and that originality on my career helped me to have a chance for this job (I didn't have it but found a better one weeks later).

So, having a passion, or a talent, with some creativity can really help. Working on his difference better than becoming a standardized people...

[LetsGoDevils]

Parents would rather buy their kid a new X-Box game than a few dollars on a World Map or a Globe.

[Don]

Parents would rather buy their kid a new X-Box game than a few dollars on a World Map or a Globe.

They could buy "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?"

[LetsGoDevils]

They could buy "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?"

Good one

[insanity_gallops]

Another thought, since this has been brought up a few times in the school the last couple of days.

Sample size was only 510 students. That's a pretty damn small number from which to infer about the entire population of American students.

[LizDevil30]

They could buy "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?"

That was a good show. Sadly the woman who hosted it, Lynn Thigpen, died suddenly a few years ago. She was only 50 something.

[Aga]

as a person that grew up in an European country I can tell you that beginning with grade 4 or 5 (cant remember exactly), we started learning geography, physics, history, biology, another language... I am not saying that it isnt too much for a child, cause sometimes it was... I remember my mom had to sit with me every night and help me with homework.... anyways in geography, we learned where countries are located, bodies of water, topography, neighbors etc.