I have done several blogs now on the value of education, the need for an informed population. Still it comes as a surprise to me that according to a poll, most Oklahoma high school students don't know that George Washington was the first president. I don't know exactly how this poll was conducted. Was it a followup to the one where American students could not locate America on the map of the world? It is also possible that the students were motivated to answer in a "dumb" way, or at the very least had no motivation to put down the correct answer. But I am also going to consider it a problem if students have started to put wrong answers just for fun.I can think of these possible explanations:
1. Students decide to answer wrong even if they know the right answer
2. American history is being taught incorrectly or not at all
3. American students no longer have the brain power to retain facts, names, etc.
4. The poll is wrong
5. This only happens in Oklahoma
6. A similar result can be had in any country, substituting an appropriate foreign question.
The first three are bad, and number three is possibly the worst as it has consequences for the future survival of the USA and the rest of the world. Four would be the best result for everybody, and five is bad only for Oklahoma.
What implications does this have for motorcycling in America (especially Oklahoma)? Say you were riding along and had a crash, and cracked your helmet. In the past, when the ambulance attendants arrived, they would ask a simple question to determine if your brain was still functioning. "Who was the first president of the United States?" I know this is unfair to Canadian motorcyclists, and instead they should ask "Who was the first prime minister or Canada", but we both know that either way, you are just as likely to be loaded in the ambulance for a ride to the nearest hospital with a brain trauma unit. You need to know the correct answer to prove you are not concussed, and avoid the expense of an ambulance ride, and even more if it is a helicopter Medevac ride. Just say "Since 75% of Oklahoma high school students cannot answer this question correctly, why not pick an easier question?", hopefully you will be able to say that, and will be sent on your way.
In the final analysis, even if everybody in the country is armed to the teeth with assault weapons, the country still is doomed when 75% of the population are ignorant. Education has to be valued more highly than the "right the bear arms". (Or as you see on the placards "bare arms")
Simple questions?
ReplyDeleteOnce upon a time, when I was still interested in history, I read about the Battle of the Bulge. As part of the German offensive, Otto Skorzeny (of Mussolini rescue fame) led a force of English-speaking German soldiers, dressed in Allied uniforms, with a mandate to create mayhem behind the Allied lines.
The Allies responded to this threat by challenging 'suspicious looking' troops in Allied uniforms with 'simple questions.'
Such as, 'Who took the National League pennant in 1932?'
I suspect that, had I been there, I would have been shot as a spy :-(
I hope nobody was shot immediately upon not knowing that answer. Maybe a series of questions would help. You had to ask a reasonably tough question, because the German commandos were motivated to answer correctly.
ReplyDeleteBack in 2007 a poll showed 1/5th of Americans could not find the USA on a map. As part of the competition in a beauty pageant, Miss South Carolina, Caitlin Upton, was asked about this poll and gave a fumbled, ridiculous response. She instantly became world famous. Youtube videos of her got 40,000,000 hits. Just maybe some Oklahoma high schoolers assume it is cool to give a stupid answer. Just my theory of course.
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