What is the cause of geographic illiteracy in the United States?

This is a less inflammatory way of saying, 'Why don't Americans know anything about the world?', but I don't mean it in a prejudiced or holier-than-thou way. It's often reported that, on standardised geographical tests given to students in countries around the world, Americans perform worse than any other country they survey. It's on Yahoo! News's main page at the moment:





http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060502/lf_...





Highlights:





"63 percent of respondents could not find Iraq on a map and 75 percent could not find Israel or Iran."





"Another hot spot in the news that failed to register with those questioned was Sudan, with 20 percent placing the African country in Asia and 10 percent in Europe."





"Nearly 75 percent believe English is the most widely spoken native language (of China), rather than Mandarin Chinese."





Why is this? And - does it matter? If so, how can it be solved?

What is the cause of geographic illiteracy in the United States?
There are likely several reasons:


First, in the United States, all politics are local. This is something you might expect in one of the world's impressive examples of democracy. The downside of this is an almost pathelogical inward-looking-ness that separates American from virtually all other jurisdictions.


Second, the American press is largely driven by surveys which exascerbate this problem. The fact is that those who dont know where other jurisdictions are, are not likely to be interested in happenings in those countries. As a result, the press gives very little time to foreign events.


Third, the United States is served almost totally by American press. The reality is that Americans and Chinese, unlike almost other parts of the world, do not have access to foreign press unless they specifically seek it out.


Fourth, I am only musing on this; but it seems to me that citizens of most countries are forced to see their neighbours as having comparatively greater strengths and weaknesses. As a non-American, I tend to see in the American press, a consistent assertion of a spirit of "We Americans are always the best". If I am correct in at least sometimes sensing this, why would Americans care to look outside their own country?


Fifth, clearly, Bush administration foreign policy decisions have tended to be unilateral. Arguably this has isolated Americans and made them unpopular abroad. Certainly, after 911 there was clear evidence that the willingness of Americans to travel abroad had declined. Why would citizens who may not feel welcome abroad want to travel abroad? While these perceptions come from someone who has travelled broadly around the world, only part can be justified statistically.





Does it matter?





The United States is indeed the most powerful country in the world at this point. If indeed U.S. politics are local and U.S. politicians take their direction from their local voters, then it is a frightening prospect for the world to think that American public policy is being driven by people who do not know the geography outside the U.S.
Reply:I believe that educational standards in America have declined. If you look at schools in this country they are simply falling apart and students are being belittled by the very teachers that should be encouraging them. Students are not being encouraged to learn, instead they are being told that they will never amount to anything. Honestly, why would any students want to go to school in these conditions, and that's only the tip of the iceberg.
Reply:They are so far away from the rest of the world that they think they don't need to know. As the US is so big, I think some of them think they are more important and the rest of the world doesn't matter. It seems from some answers I've read, that they are simply not educated. They might learn a little about their own country but not much about anywhere else. It can only be solved by the teachers(that's school teachers, parents and any other adult likely to teach a child) first accepting that they don't know everything and then making more effort to learn themselves so they can teach the kids facts instead of making them think they are always right because they're American.
Reply:Maybe it's because people who don't travel much (and that's most of us) have little curiosity about the world outside their town or their county or their state. I'm Canadian, I've lived in various parts of the country and no matter where you go, some people have only the vaguest idea of the true shape and size of this country, so you can't really expect them to know things like, for instance whether Montreal is farther north than Toronto (it is).





And it doesn't even matter how much education you've got. Remember how upset George W. got a few years back when he discovered that there are poor people in Texas? How is it possible for a former governor not to know that East Texas is one of the poorest parts of the union? even this Canuck knows that.
Reply:I think the last time I was required to sit down with a map for a class was when I was in sixth grade (which may have been when JrH Geography still existed...13 years ago?). Never in high-school.


As for the bigger issue, I think the "news" is a good indicator. Every time I watch local TV news, I am shocked, SHOCKED at the worthlessness of it all. It is 98% fluff, entertainment goings-on, some weather, much hyperbole, a bit of hearty banter, stuff I've known for a year already (OMG!, Mission Accomplished, but there totally aren't even any WMD! Can you even believe it?!?!), and 2% or less useful, important information about my community (mixed in with more hyperbole). National news is about a smidge better. This is how the majority of US residents get their information (if they get any at all): this is why the majority of US residents can't find Iraq on a map.





Scratch that. US residents don't know because US residents don't bother to care. My parents (die hard Conservatives, God love 'em) are the only people from my home town that I know bother to vote. Everyone else doesn't want to because they "don't know enough."
Reply:In most classrooms teachers only recognize and/or cater to a few types of intelligence. Spatial intelligence is not one of them. Also remember the days when you had to memorize tons and tons of information? Like the state flags, state mottoes etc? Those days are gone in most places. We're so busy just teaching kids to read! The simple answer is we don't expect or ask enough of children. I had a great history teacher in high school (Randy Hutchinson), and he made sure we knew where places were around the globe. He made it important to know these things. If we did not know then we did not pass the final exam.
Reply:100 % education is ****** up.


100 % coz there is cheap education in highschool students dont care.


100% coz most of the americans are dum a$$ for $$.


100% most of the americans dont think about future.


100% they are over proud of being american.


100% they are over confident in their a$$.


100% coz of immigrants.


100% it is not necessary to study to survive in america coz "AMERICA RUNS ON DUNKIN" so we americans can too run on dunkin.


100% rasial discrimination.


100% excess freedom.


100% literacy (they say so but they r stupid, lots of them dont know english).