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A new study of U.S. teens finds many lack knowledge of basic things that some experts say help form the underpinnings of a common culture.
According to an article in USA Today, among 1,200 17-year-olds surveyed:
- 43 percent knew the Civil War was fought between 1850 and 1900.
- 52 percent could identify the theme of 1984.
- 51 percent knew that the controversy surrounding Sen. Joseph McCarthy focused on communism.
Looking at the glass as half-full, as pundits and journalists seldom do, one might say lots of teens know something about their country’s history. Indeed, 88 percent knew the bombing of Pearl Harbor led our country into World War II. One reason so many knew that: It’s taught in school.
So, let me see if I get this: If we teach teens something, they learn it. If we fail to, then we complain that half of them don’t know it. Sure, teens can be lazy (and fail to do chores, and seem simply to not care). But these poll results are as much a reflection on our education system as on teens.
February 27th, 2008 at 9:35 am
Students are also taught when the civil war was fought. If 88% of teens know about Pearl Harbor it is not only because it was taught but because a popular movie was made about it. If you cross reference the highest percentages of historical events known by teenagers you would most likely find that a movie reinforced that learning. Teens, like all students, learn and remember best when it is presented in a format that is interesting to them. Pearl Harbor (the movie) was also a love story which appealed to the audience. In fact, the facts about Pearl Harbor may have been reinforced or learned incidentally while the teens were enjoying the entertainment of the movie.
Debdjw
Educator
March 3rd, 2008 at 11:03 am
If the previous poster (Debdjw) really is an “Educator”, her rationale goes a long way toward explaining why the US public education system is broken. Had Debdjw watched the PBS Brain Fitness special in December, or visited - http://www.pbs.org/wnet/brain/
or reviewed the new & improved “dumbed down” teacher’s manual - http://www.pbs.org/saf/1101/teaching/teaching3.htm
Debdjw might be familiar with current advances in the study of neural plasticity, memory retention and attentiveness.
Despite Debdjw’s astonishing discovery that kids prefer not being challenged to learn but rather really really enjoy kicking back during movietime (or cartoons) so they can idly text message each other while the class monitor (can’t call them teachers) sits in the semi-darkened room staring slackjawed at the screen, it turns out that the old fashioned system of TEACHING + TESTING + GRADING (not on a curve) does far more for brains of any age.
~ prisca sapientia
March 10th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
Conventional wisdom blames fewer hours in the classroom and “teaching to the test” to pass state and federal education requirements for graduation. While quite probably these are important factors, interest, or lack of it, on the part of the student counts, too.
Recently I asked several teens who Joseph Goebbels was and what Dachau was. None could answer. I was about to climb on my soapbox about education when just for a test I asked the same number of folks 50 and over. They didn’t know either. I asked why not given the devastation wrought by the Nazis, the Holocaust and propaganda in general (political spin-doctoring), and the answer was they had no interest in history both as a student and now.
My survey was limited, subjective and cannot count as proof of anything, but without question motivation (or “interest”) is a major factor and always will be.