[StBernard] Young Americans Can't Locate Louisiana

[Westley Annis]

Young Americans shaky on geographic smarts 
Study finds that many fare poorly at finding Louisiana and Iraq on a map

The Associated Press
Updated: 10:52 a.m. ET May 2, 2006


WASHINGTON - Despite the wall-to-wall coverage of the damage from Hurricane
Katrina, nearly one-third of young Americans recently polled couldn't locate
Louisiana on a map and nearly half were unable to identify Mississippi.

Americans between the ages of 18 and 24 fared even worse with foreign
locations: six in 10 couldn't find Iraq, 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's hoping to enlist businesses, nonprofit groups
and educators in a bid to improve geographic literacy.

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

Joining in the effort to improve geographic knowledge will be the 4-H,
American Federation of Teachers, Asia Society, Association of American
Geographers, National Basketball Association, National Council of La Raza,
National PTA, Smithsonian Institution and others.

"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."

C 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

C 2006 MSNBC.com

URL: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/12591413/