It is no secret that I am a map geek. I have a degree in Professional Geography and worked making maps for six years. But - what you may not know - is that in college I also worked in summer workshops for teachers where we tried to teach them how to teach geography in a way that was more than “Label the Nile” or “What is the capital of Djibouti?” We taught that Geography is more than maps. These efforts caused me to be very well acquainted with the studies that show how ignorant Americans are about global locations.
That links shows the statistic that 11% of 18-24-year-olds could not find the United States on a map. If you’ve watched the news or surfed the web at all this week, you know that Miss South Carolina was asked about similar statistics and embarrassed herself completely in the answer. She has now had her face plastered all over the news broadcasts as people laugh at her endlessly. But everyone is missing the point: She is not the one we should be laughing at. What about the Americans who can not find the U.S. on a map? Why is everyone mocking this poor girl? Yes. Her answer was bad. VERY bad. I cringed and couldn’t even listen to the whole thing. It was BAD. But — if we turned half of our attention on educating our children as we do at mocking her — we could make steps in solving the problem.
First - let me answer the question for her. WHY? Well, the answer is actually simple. We grow up with an image of the US in our heads:
But if you show someone a world map - you see this:
Where is that first image on the second map? The first instinct most Americans have is to look for that first shape. The one that makes it look like there is no land north of our border or south. Canada? Mexico? What? Of course kids can’t find the US when they’re looking for that outline. They probably couldn’t find Texas either, when most kids could draw the shape of Texas rather easily. In reality? I don’t think it’s that big of a deal. And I definitely don’t think it’s a sign of ignorance. Take the second image above - the one with just land masses and no political boundaries - and show a sampling of people and there are going to be some who can’t find the U. S.
The solution? Educate globally. We need to teach our children on a global level. Hang maps of the WORLD in the classrooms, not just of the United States. Change the pictures our children see of the U.S. Instead of plastering maps of the United States, isolated and seemingly HUGE all over the walls, let’s plaster maps of the WORLD on the walls with the various countries labeled. It will put the U.S.in perspective geographically - showing where our country is on the continent of North America. But it will also put it in perspective spatially. Students think the U.S. is a much larger land mass than it really is. Especially if you use the right projection.
(I won’t geek out here and get into how changing a data projection on a map can change the message - but if you think it sounds fascinating, may I suggest ‘How To Lie With Maps’?)
I just wanted to answer the question for her. I am a geographer at heart - I find spatial relationships fascinating and a good map prettier than many acclaimed works of art. Not many people could have given that question the answer it deserved. She screwed up, no arguing that. And there’s probably a chance she couldn’t find the U.S. on a world map, but I just didn’t want her embarrassment to be chronicled without my two cents.
So, there you go. A lot of people have passed through our education system with little geographic knowledge or spatial awareness. Maybe if every classroom would let me walk in and talk about how cool geography is, one of two things could happen: The kids would learn to love maps and grow a global awareness. Or I’d be mocked mercilessly. Either way - it would be fun for someone.
That is an excellent post and point. I often wonder if you saw the episode of the West Wing where the Cartographers for Social Equality came in and wanted educators to start using the Gall-Peters projection. (Yes, I had to look up that name.)
Too bad my geography teacher(s) were not as excited about their subject as you are.
I can find the US on a world map and all that, but I truly hated geography. 
nice post.
Great post.
I have two world maps hanging in our house and a US one as well. I keep all old atlases even though the boundaries change - that’s the point, right? Two of my treasured possessions are my great-grandma’s grade school geography schoolbook and a 1950s geographical globe - even now my 22 month old loves to run his fingers over it. I totally lust for a pre 1947 political globe that would show India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh as one country. Obviously, in my house my kids better know where India is at least.
I fervently hope my daughter is never a Miss Kansas, but if she is, she better know where shit is. Know what I mean?
Very good point, Missy Z. (That is your wrapper name, I’m sure.) I’m just going to leave that W there so I look just as stupid as I feel right now. Sheesh.
So, are they not showing world maps in classrooms these days? I remember I had them growing up and I used to love to look at them (and globes). We had that map that was both, the US alone and then the world. I used to love to just look at maps and see where everything was in relation to each other. But I can remember having friends that had very sketchy ideas of where things were located in reality and just being amazed that they had such a poor idea of geography.
Also, I highly recommend hanging a map near a bed. One of ours is over our spare bed - it’s a HUGE world map. I love lying there and dreaming of all the places I would love to visit someday. My toddler is also fascinated with it.
One of the coolest maps I ever saw when I was a kid was one of the world “upside-down,” without any country outlines. Why is north up? Why do we look at everything with Europe on “top”? It’s a great lesson in perspective and cultural assumptions.
Climbing up on soapbox:
Personally, I think Americans would be much better off if they stopped watching TV and spending time on facebook, myspace and other web sites and actually spent time helping to educate their kids. Its not just about the schools but about our society and the values we instill and experiences we give our children. We don’t spend our vacations going to the islands or disneyworld every year. There are museums, libraries and other places that are free or inexpensive. I think the major of Americans have willfully chosen to be uninformed–because it takes work and requires a great deal of effort and thinking.
We have a globe in our daughter’s room. When we read about France or England or whatever country, we point it our on the globe. Nerdy, yes. But my daughter is going to know that the US isn’t the only country in the world. If we want our children to be intelligent people who take an interest in the world, we cannot solely rely on others to do the job.
I teach 250 students over a 2 day period–care to figure out how much time that is per pupil to assess each student’s level and retention. 1.6 minutes if I am not actually covering material. I am not saying it is not my job–but it is also the job of the parents, grandparents, school, society and everyone who comes in contact with our children.
–stepping of soap box.
@ Callistawolf - SURE there are world maps! Just not as many. And for people who are slow to learn like I was - I need them PLASTERED EVERYWHERE!
@ leslie - I am a big fan of the public school system and teachers. I was not insulting you or anyone else in the system. I hope you didn’t take it that way. I’m sorry if I came off as sounding like it’s the teacher’s faults.
But - for the record - I don’t think TV/MySpace/Internet is to blame. (What? Am I biased? hee.) But I’ll save that theory for another blog entry.
I am lover of maps and globes. I consider old maps art.
I feel sorry for the girl because the question was so not who you like better Lohan, Hilton or Richie which is the question of another contestant. I mean c’mon how fair is that?
Okay, you have convinced me. I now need to go get a world map for our spare room to keep at the kids level and they need a globe. They are only 4 and 5 but you can never start too young right?
I love geography and world maps. I knew it rubbed of on my kids when I let my four year old choose our new shower curtain.
What did she pick?
A world map.
Miss Zoot–
I didn’t read your entry as blaming teachers/schools at all. I just am trying to get people to understand how important it is for parents to spend time helping their children learn and to not leave it all to the schools.
I think the Internet is a wonderful tool and entertainment device but when I see students constantly checking their voicemail, email, comments left on myspace–etc. it drives me nuts–We think we are so much closer and connected but so much of it can just be surface, not true communication, not true connections and not indepth learning.
I think we can blame our national news more than anything. Adults don’t even hear about international news often. Yes, it was sad that people died in the 35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis, but the earthquake killing hundreds people in South America a few days later? Does anyone remember that?
It’s hard in the U.S. to have a wider view. My parents never took an active role in my education except for Spanish, and that’s because they were working full-time. I understand that some parents can spend time with their kids teaching history, but what about parents who don’t have that education themselves? Does that mean that the uneducated don’t deserve the same background and knowledge? That sounds pretty awful, if you ask me.
My teachers (at a private school) taught me a great deal. Instead of ten years of U.S. history, I had Chinese history, Latin American history, Canadian History, and of course Ancient history, European History, and “World” history. And, yes, I had a year of U.S. history. But the rest of it explained a lot more about U.S. history than you’d think.
I laughed as much as the next person when I heard about her answer but now you’ve got me thinking… do we have a map or a globe in our house. No.
If I think back to my own education and when I learned how to find the U.S. on a map - it was actually my brother’s globe. It was colorful and pretty and I liked to play with it. I learned to find Atlanta on it and gained perspective for where I lived.
A couple of month’s ago we drew the line and stated we were not buying another toy to bring into this house. (Although McD’s keeps sending those damn bears home with us) The girls could have all the books or puzzles they wanted but no more toys. Now I think I’ll have to add a globe to the list of things they can have. Oh and I’ve been struggling to think of a birthday present for a little girl for this weekend, now I’m feeling truely inspired.
Nice defense, but I think your standards for what an adult person should know are a little depressing.
I remember a middle-school teacher showing us a world map and telling us to look for Florida, and the Great Lakes… and tada! there’s the US!
I teach English now, but you can be sure my students are about to get a map lesson!
Now see, in the classrooms I learned in, we always had a world map. And a U.S. map. They both pulled down from the shade-y thing on the blackboard.
So we knew. And I’m just about to be 30, so it’s not like it was eons ago. It makes me sad that teachers aren’t teaching the same way anymore.
I’m with you. We SHOULD know this information.
Preach it, girl. My husband is from Bulgaria. He gets so tired of explaining where that is to people who don’t know his markers that he used to threaten to hang a world map on our apartment wall. He did go out and by a globe.
@meg - I don’t think I was setting “standards” as to what an adult should know - I don’t really know if I can make those statements anyhow. I’m not a judge of what an “adult should know” - that’s for DAMN sure. I can’t even bake a potato! hehe.
I’m kind of horrified when people don’t know basic stuff, but you make an excellent point. Sadly, I’m sure there’s all kinds of stuff kids aren’t learning in school.
I feel so sorry for that poor girl….I think that it was a poor question that was given to her. If her first reaction to the statistic was the same as mine..”What? You’re kidding me, right?”, I am not surprised that she completely froze and was just trying to say something!
I can not believe that people can not locate the US on a world map…it is just ridiculous!
I love maps. Always have. I think our teachers are too restricted by “No Child Left Behind” and all the ridiculous standardized tests that they don’t even get to the important stuff that needs to be taught…like geography and science. PURE Science, I’m talking about. Nothing with any hocus pocus added. Where was I? Oh yes. Miss South Carolina. I just wonder if SHE could find the U.S. on a map. Seriously. She is just adding to my list of things that are going wrong with the education system in this country. Very, very wrong.
Oh. Also? In college? I had a roomate who thought Alaska was an island and a continent near Hawaii. Seriously. IN COLLEGE!!!!!!!!!
Yay! Great post!
Thank you! I couldn’t agree more. I have yet to show my little 3 & 4 year old a US map, and have only used a global one for this reason. They can already pick out several countries globally and I want to send them to an IB school so that this type of global thinking will continue…
Speaking of Alaska and Hawaii…
WTF? Why WHY WHY do the map makers stick them together down in a little corner? Just to make a tidy-but completely-inaccurate map? I don’t get it.
Katie is right, it just confuses people.
It’s a little pet peeve of mine and most other Alaskans I know.
Wonderful post. As a fellow former geography major and now an elementary school teacher this hits close to home. I’ve always been appalled by the statistics about map literacy, and I’ve wondered “Who are these people?” But then I went into the teacher credential program, and our social studies prof asked us to draw a map of the world from memory, as an exercise. OK, that is a difficult task, but I was the only one in my cohort who got all seven continents in vaguely the correct location. The ONLY one, out of 40+ college graduates! These are the people who are teaching our kids—people who don’t care about geography.
When I was a kid I had a world map and several National Geographic maps in my room, a globe and two atlases in the house (fancy grown-up atlas and my “kid” atlas) and a subscription to National Geographic. Oh yeah, and a box full of old AAA maps for every city my family ever visited. It wasn’t until adulthood that I realized this wasn’t normal. Maps are such a part of my subconscious that I don’t really understand how people can think about the world without the geographic reference. It’s weird.
On a related note, you’ve mentioned before that you have trouble coming up with decorating ideas, why not display maps? Cool map + poster frame = instant awesome educational art.
I was so excited to find out that my son has actual Geography lessons in second grade this year! And he brought home his first Geography homework this week. I had very little Geography in school and knew very little of anything beyond the US until I was an adult. My knowledge of world geography was based on the game Risk for many years. Yikes.
We have a globe at home and a laminated US map hanging on our son’s room. But we should do more.
I don’t think the focus of the media is as much on her having or not having a good answer for the question, but the humor was in her just choking on it. I think she totally zoned out on the question. I felt sorry for her, but I must admit, when I talked to my husband today, I ended almost every statement with ’such as.’, and sometimes I would just look at him and say ‘Such as.’ It’s playing in my head even when I don’t actually say it - I’m thinking it. Even when dealing with my customers, etc. Its like my own little private joke, amusing me yet taunting me at the same time. Such as.
Such as.
seeeeee????????? somebody make it stop.
To be honest, I have to confess I did chortle at poor Miss South Carolina. And I laughed in particular at the only part of her answer that actually seemed to come close to dealing with the question. Which was “I personally believe that U.S. Americans are unable to do so because, um, some people out there in our nation don’t have maps” Now, having thought about it some more and read your post and the other comments - was she actually right??? (I hasten to add that I am Scottish so can’t comment either way on the US education system!)
Totally agree, Miss Z. I still remember when I was doing my internship in my middle 20s. We were sitting around with some of the other interns at the hospital talking one night when one of them admitted to the group that until she was 27, she believed that Alaska was south of the mainland US. Because… wait for it… THAT’S WHERE IT WAS LOCATED ON ALL THE MAPS IN HER SCHOOL CLASSROOMS.
I don’t think there was some grand miscarriage of the educational system where she was concerned. She was bright and articulate and knew her stuff. I think that sometimes misconceptions like that get passed over because we don’t try to see things the way our kids see them and we miss the point when we’re teaching them. If using maps (and other things like dictionaries and encyclopedias) were more a part of our lives as adults, it might be that our kids would be more familiar with the process.
I will totally confess to now knowing where any of the states in the middle of the US is.
Hey - I don’t even known which one’s the pacific and which one’s the atlantic!!!
I know - so sad…
As a former geography major and lifelong geography geek, I think that was a great post.
Great post! When I was in school the ONLY geography lesson I got was to learn the states and their capitals (in 5th grade), and to learn the names and capitals of 100 countries of the world (11th grade). At the time I couldn’t tell you where half of those countries were.
Somehow though, I developed a great love for maps (I had a wall of maps that I had found at rummage sales). And now I make custom maps in the military! Go figure!
[...] Read an interesting take on the catastrophe that is Miss Teen South Carolina. [...]
When I was getting ready to move a few years ago to Georgia, I kept hearing “that’s not overseas” or “I didn’t know the US had an Embassy in Atlanta!” That’s why my first blog was called “The Other Georgia”. Now that I have moved to Oman, people in the US just look at me like “what? where? You are in the middle east? Are you craaaaazy??” I have ceased being shocked by it, but I am grateful for our nomad existence because it is teaching my kids that the US is not, in fact, the center of the Universe. And that there is more to a map than locating where the capital of Florida is.
Great post, Zoot.
I enjoyed this. Very good explanation.
I think if Miss S.C. would have just given her talk a ‘wrap’ in a timely fashion it wouldn’t have sounded nearly as bad. She gets a bit of credit for sticking it out anyway.
In the meantime, Zoot you need to come to dinner - we’ve got a world map and a U.S. map on our table, covered in a clear vinyl table cloth. It’s awesome!
[...] Miss Zoot thoughtfully and articulately came to Miss South Carolina’s defense over her inability to answer why a fifth of Americans could not locate the United States on a world map. The statistics made me feel a little less inadequate about my own geography short-comings. [...]
Why is anybody surprised, when the leader of this country can say something like:
“Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?”
- G.W. Bush Florence, S.C., Jan. 11, 2000
Sure, lets continue “teaching to the test” so that kids know enough to pass some standardized test. Here are the results in action. Just more proof that the current No Child Left Behind Act is a joke.
[...] Miss Zoot defended Miss South Carolina after her geography gaffe: A lot of people have passed through our [...]
Good post.
Lisa wrote it all: “It wasn’t until adulthood that I realized this wasn’t normal.”
I traveled a lot in childhood and was exposed to international communities early on, so this extent of American navel gazing is hard for me to comprehend.
(and what’s with all this pink writing? ughh)
When I was young (about age 7 so…American 2nd grade?), our primary instructor gave us a world map in which the continents had been made into wood-cut puzzle pieces.
Each of the seven continents had its own color and was its own puzzle piece. Minor details like Japan, Hawaii, or (ok it’s a big detail but still) Greenland did not come out of the map, but were colored to match the continent that claimed them.
We put the map piece on a properly colored paper and traced the perimeter of the continent. Then we were required to take a straight pin and “perforate” the entire perimeter of the map piece rather than cutting it out with scissors. We’d punch out the perforated map piece and glue it in the proper location on a blue ocean. This is very time consuming at it takes close to a week to make a world map this way (considering time spent on other studies). But to this day, I can practically draw the world map from memory.
As one progresses in school, this technique is repeated with maps containing national boundaries. Those I remember well too, though my memory is out of date due to recent political changes like the fall of the USSR and such