The Ugly American

Yesterday I was reading an article on the "Dumb Things Americans Believe" in Newsweek by David A. Graham. It listed the PEW poll which found out that President Obama was perceived by 20 percent of Americans to be a Muslim(remember Rev. Wright?),40 percent still agreed with Sarah Palin's belief that there would be a death panel with the new health care act, half of Americans still believe there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq(Pres. Bush even admitted that their weren't there), another 20 percent believed the sun revolves around the Earth and nine out of ten US citizens couldn't find Afghanistan on a map. The kicker for me was that 3 of 4 Americans could correctly name the three Stooges but only 2 of 5 could name the three branches of government. Who are the Stooges- look around you!
Why?
We have failed our kids.
Educators have spent so much time getting students ready for the 'test' that we have forgotten to actually educate them in what is important. I know many a good language arts teacher who has diligently taught students what the difference was between a fact and an opinion, or a fact and fiction. Obviously this skill did not sink into most students' brains or these percentages would be different. When you only have to obtain a 50 percent on a standardized test in order to get a passing grade we have failed the kids.
I'm very happy that my surgeon, my dentist and my lawyer were held to a higher standard.If they only knew 50 percent of their work- heaven help us.
We need to hold all American students to a much higher standard than we do. Yes it is idealistic that they will be as conscientious as the doctor, lawyer and dentist but we need to raise the bar when we teach, when we grade and when we pass those students on to the next grade.
I have traveled extensively in Europe and I am always dismayed when I come across the "Ugly American" who doesn't take the time to understand the customs and habits of the people in who's country he is a guest.They are rude and stand out like the proverbial 'sore thumb'. Now after reading Graham's article I know why.
If I ran the schools I would mandate more geography knowledge, more life skills, more world skills and above all real life relevant examples of fact and fiction. I would make them think, research and write on subjects that have to do with being knowledgeable about what is going on around them. I remember as a kid being required to bring into class a current event which was from a newspaper. A newspaper? 'What's that' today's student would ask?
Perhaps we should insist that they have a newspaper 'app' on their fancy phones. Maybe they could be required to text the news event to another student or put it on their Facebook page. As educators we need to try all the tricks we can to get them to learn something other than the 'test'.
Perhaps if we did this then we wouldn't anymore be known as 'the Ugly American' but as 'the Intelligent Savvy American'.