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British pupils 'cannot locate UK'

news.bbc.co.uk — One in five young British children cannot find the UK on a map of the world, a magazine's research suggests. Read on

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  • charbarred, on 10/12/2007, -2/+31Classic! (and somewhat not very surprising)
    • PowerCow, on 10/12/2007, -2/+46I think most of us Americans are releasing a sigh of relief. I am glad it isn't just American kids that are de-de-dee, I was beginning to think something was in the water. But if it is the whole human race that is going stupid, well then THAT makes me feel better.
    • knightblade2oo4, on 10/12/2007, -4/+25well, it _is_ pretty small...
    • crilen007, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9"National Geographic Kids said it also found fewer than two thirds of children were able to correctly locate the US."
    • eplawless, on 10/12/2007, -1/+34this just in; six year olds don't know things they haven't been taught
    • hackwrench, on 10/12/2007, -0/+14six to 14 year olds.

      Without a breakdown, we don't know if they're mostly all six year olds. Marked inaccurate. Turning it into "One in five young British children" is just plain wrong.
    • Endemoniada, on 10/12/2007, -7/+2This just in! Those who actually read the article would know the kids were only under 14, and thus probably a lot older than 6!
    • nepawoods, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4@ Endemoniada

      "This just in! Those who actually read the article would know the kids were only under 14, and thus probably a lot older than 6!"

      Did YOU read the article? It says: "The magazine, which questioned more than 1,000 six to 14-year-olds"

      So if you assume an even distribution, a third of them (a little more) are six, seven or eight year olds. I don't find it all that troubling that an eight year old British child can't find the US on a map. It isn't a very critical aspect of education.
    • decades, on 10/12/2007, -10/+6Ask the immigrants. They ALL know where the UK is...
    • masamunecyrus, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Wow, and I thought American schools was in dire straits with its Geography.

      Failure to know and understand the rest of the world promotes rampant Nationalism and directly weakens the ties between nations, which causes war and hatred towards other peoples. I sincerely hope Britain can get their act together, though here in America we haven't been able to do it in a long time.
    • TomP, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6Are we really this stupid? I knew where the UK was by yr 4
    • SanchoPanzer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6The Brits created the greatest and most influential empire in history with just 1% of the world's population. Just imagine how big it would have been if we'd known where we were going.
    • adolfojp, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2That is nothing! Most american kids believe that "America" is a country.
    • Enasni1212, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Adolfojp:

      So do most American adults.
    • JackyTreehorn, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1I think the reason for this is that you guys have three names for your country: Great Britain, England, and the United Kingdom. Pick one and stick with it, then your students would only have to remember one thing instead of three.
    • theone3, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Sancho, 1/5th of students between the ages of 6-14 (those tested) accounts for 100% of students between 6.0 to 7.6 years of age. I wouldn't expect a 6-8 year old to be able to point out their geographically tiny little country on a massive world map.

      (14-6 = 8, 8/5 = 1.6 years)
    • theone3, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Actually I've just realised because you're 14 till your 15th birthday, it would be:

      14.99 - 6.0 ~= 9,
      9/5 = 1.8,
      so 6 - 7.8 year olds.
  • moisie, on 10/12/2007, -0/+22Not really surprising since when I was doing Geography at school there wasn't any time spent learning about countries and the world. I remember we spent a lot of time learning about the agricultural policy of Senegal, specifically them growing cash crops like peanuts. It didn't teach me where Senegal is or make me want to know where Senegal is though. That said, I know where the UK, US and Iraq are.
    • mrASSMAN, on 10/12/2007, -4/+16..I swear the UK and the US share all the same problems and yet Britain refuses to admit it.
    • plankton, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Yup, I was in secondary school 15 years ago, and didn't learn *anything* about the locations of countries, world capital cities etc in geography lessons - the curriculum only proscribes teaching human and enivronmental geography. So yes, cash crops and the effect the west has on developing nations, climate systems and geology.

      So these results are far from surprising - if you don't teach kids something, why should they know it?!
    • SanchoPanzer, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1At least you knew that Senegal existed. The average American wouldn't even know that unless it was on Bush's invasion list. Still, come the day that oil runs out and we're powering our transport with peanut oil those pesky Senegalesers better watch out for the wrath of George.
    • H3g3m0n, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2Does it really matter that you cannot point to a place on a map?

      Is there a huge demand for finding countries on a map as a career?

      I think it would be much better to learn about the places themselves rather than where they are on a map things like the basic cuture, the language, the religions if its a major infulance and some basic histroy.

      The most use I have ever found for classroom geography was Where in the World is Carmen Sandiago.

      Is there really any point to teaching kids meaningless facts that can be found out on wikipedia/google or a book?

      Most of the geography I remember doing involved turning Hight Maps into cross sectional maps.
    • theone3, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1mrASSMAN,

      1. England is tiny
      2. The US is huge
      3. The UK is not a country
      4. 1/5 of the students between 6-14 are between 6.0 - 7.4 years of age
      5. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGmesn5WXeE
      6. The only stupid thing about this article is that it gives Americans undue hope
  • IvanB, on 10/12/2007, -16/+14This video reminds me of that other video where there was that reporter asking Americans to spot some countries on a map, and they were getting it all wrong. Heh.
    • MiddleGirth, on 10/12/2007, -7/+27Was this reporter Jay Leno?

      We may be a country full of morons but at least we can pick out America on a globe.
    • spudnic, on 10/12/2007, -11/+6Yeah, you sure put those six to 14-year-olds who couldn't point out britain to shame
    • Damovisa, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11If it's the one I'm thinking of it's an Australian show called "The Chaser's War on Everything".

      Basically they mis-labelled a map of the world and asked Americans on the street to identify and put pins in the countries that America should attack next. North Korea was my favourite response when combined with the comment, "I had no idea North Korea was so much bigger than South Korea" (actually mainland Australia and Tasmania).
    • pritch, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11Yes, but to be fair, if you're filming a report about people not being able to identify countries, you're probably going to leave the people who got them all right out when you edit the footage.
    • MrBrightside, on 10/12/2007, -1/+13yeah the youtube video of ADULT Americans thinking France was in Australia was funny. On the several times I have visited the USA and people have asked where I am from they always get confused with the UK. They seem to think that London is the only city in the UK, they don't understand the difference between the UK, Britain and England/Scotland/Wales/Ireland - just makes me laugh. I remember one women in New York asking if I had drove here from the UK! - yes I took the new bridge! - stupid women!
    • theone3, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I hate spamming this everywhere, but it's so damn relevant to this particular conversation

      1. England is tiny
      2. The US is huge
      3. The UK is not a country
      4. 1/5 of the students between 6-14 are between 6.0 - 7.4 years of age
      5. Chasers War: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGmesn5WXeE
      6. The only stupid thing about this article is that it gives Americans undue hope
  • vudicarus, on 10/12/2007, -2/+30Before out-right mocking the stupidity of today's kids, I'd want more info about the study. Disecting the article, here are my questions:

    The title says: "One in five young British children cannot find the UK on a map of the world, a magazine's research suggests." "Suggests" doesn't mean conclude.

    "The magazine, which questioned more than 1,000 six to 14-year-olds, said it discovered several children in London did not to know it was the UK capital."
    Ages 6-14 is a big spread of education and learning ability. "Several": how many is that? 5, 7? Could those kids have learning disabilities, etc.

    How important is it for 6,7,8 year olds to Iraq? When I was 6 I thought Turkey was near Canada.

    It is also interesting to note that the study was done by a comercial magazine plugging it's own topic as essential knowledge.
    • IvanB, on 10/12/2007, -3/+11""Suggests" doesn't mean conclude."

      You're right. I should of left that in the title.
  • heresy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6It is just so.........small.
  • Enroth, on 10/12/2007, -1/+22Anyone could miss the UK, all tucked away down there.
    • Tenlow, on 10/12/2007, -1/+15Isnt it next to west dakota?
    • nreynolds, on 10/12/2007, -2/+11it's still a better quote with canada...
      "Anyone could miss canada..."
  • Zreitan, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3its so small that must be the reason
  • Paktu, on 10/12/2007, -16/+19Dear Brits:
    Never ever call us Americans "stupid" again.
    • WestDC, on 10/12/2007, -7/+13Ah yes, but the US is huge. The UK is tiny in comparison.

      US total area: 9,631,420 km²
      UK total Area: 244,820 km²

      ...There's a bit of a difference.
    • spudnic, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I think at the age these kids are the results of a study like this one highlight failings in the education system at that level more than stupidly on behalf of the children

      If it were adults it'd be a different matter, but then the results of the survey would have been different too
    • jwyles, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4@WestDC

      I find it funny that you reported the area of the only two countries (IIRC) that do not officially use the metric system in terms of a metric unit.
    • pritch, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8@jwyles - We (UK) use the metric system for the vast majority of things these days. Apart from maybe distance. And maybe area as well.

      OK, your point stands.
    • QuorumCall, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7When I was in grade school, I memorized all fifty states, their shapes, capitals, position relative to other states, etc. It's not that we were too stupid to learn international geography, we just had an American-centric lesson plan. I'm sure all countries put their own country first when teaching children.

      Europeans can name all the 45 countries in Europe, but can they name all 50 states in the US?

      eh, I've lost interest already.
    • WestDC, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4@jwyles

      So I should be forced to change the measurements because 2 countries out of several hundred use Imperial? Methinks not.
  • BMW7Series, on 10/12/2007, -15/+11British pupils cannot locate the UK, or cannot locate a dentist's office within the UK?
    • paulmdx, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Have you been paying too much attention to the Simpsons? The one where Lisa is shown the 'Book of British Smiles'?
  • Keloran, on 10/12/2007, -23/+1iirc, the UK does not mean
    England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland

    UK also means
    England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Australia, Jamaica

    or is that the British Empire, stupid colonialism making us own alot of the world, so we never know what we are part of
    • MackPrime, on 10/12/2007, -1/+14Pretty sure Australian kids could find here on a map, champ.
    • zekt, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Now now... just because you hold The Ashes at the moment, doesn't mean you own us again.

    • gibler, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1For ***** sake use Wikipedia.
    • simonjp, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2"Now now... just because you hold The Ashes at the moment, doesn't mean you own us again."

      Ahh, I think this might be a misunderstanding between 'own' and '0wned'
    • domr, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Ok, briefly:

      Great Britain = England, Scotland, Wales (including islands such as the Isle of Wight, Ynys Môn, etc.)

      UK = Great Britain + Northern Ireland

      The British Isles = Great Britain + all of Ireland + various small islands (including the Isle of Man, etc.)
    • theone3, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Yep, iirc it's pretty much what Domr said.

      Also the British Empire includes Canada, Jamaica, Australia, and IIRC the Falkland islands or something, although Argentina may have taken that back.
  • Paperclip1, on 10/12/2007, -1/+25Well, you have to be stupid not to be able to locate a country on the map.

    I mean, what kind of ghetto map doesn't have the NAMES right on it?

    Clearly, the study REALLY suggests that 1 of 5 british children cannot READ.

    There's a more serious problem at hand, folks.

    /sarcasm
    • neko, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Posts on Digg are only funny when it's unintentional.
  • kosa, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4University of Kentucky?
    • Tramd, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2look! Someone from UK! Bravo sir, you do your school/country proud!
    • Cronos, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Nope, that's even harder. First you actually have to find the state on Kentucky on a map. I mean, I only know where it is because I live here...
    • brain007, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2@cronos:
      You get internet there? ;)
  • excalibrax, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1mispost
  • gd007, on 10/12/2007, -6/+2i can not point UK on the map either.
    • gibler, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7The Scottish need to know where enemies ... oops I mean fellow countrymen.. are located.
  • bnt3a, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2It seems either no one has read the article and they just can't read. I"m surprised the Americans aren't mentioning this:
    "National Geographic Kids said it also found fewer than two thirds of children were able to correctly locate the US."

    Otherwise:
    "Scottish children fared better with 67% able to identify the most countries on a world map."

    Go Scots!
    • zombo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4That's because the English being governed by Scotsmen are taxed to the hind teeth to give those weee kiddies up north a good education.
    • zombo, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6"You do realise the tax is exactly the ***** same all over the UK?"
      I hope that is joke.

      The tax maybe the same it's where its being spent that really counts.
    • zombo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2http://www.thecep.org.uk/england_disadvantaged.shtml
    • JoeyDeacon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Hey we English are not bitter that we subsidised the cost of the 500million (or is it more) Scottish Parliament building which is now falling down just so all the Scots can come to England and sit in our parliament. Make up your minds. Devolve or don't but don't waste my money on some Jock white elephant.
  • JonnyTrombone, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Even randomly selected, 1,000 kids isn't a very good sample. If you're National Geographic, I'm sure you can take the time to do some more interviews before publishing your findings.
  • eddigg, on 10/12/2007, -2/+14Hmm. Just a little self-serving wouldn't you say? National Geographics Kids says kids need to learn more about geography. Gee, maybe they should subscribe to our magazine. What a pile of *****.
    • foobar5892, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Yes, because, clearly, reading a magazine will teach you more than going to school.
  • potdarko, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2What a shock!!! i hope that these kids will stand a chance in life... knowing where find your own country is an essential survival skill, specially in the 21st century... :S
  • spacebutler, on 10/12/2007, -5/+5I'd say that all of the kids who can't locate it are chavs, but that would mean chavs attend school.

    Either way, we need to chemically castrate all chavs.

    Just sayin'.
  • zombo, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4But then 4 out 5 British school children are unable to find a decent education.
  • Majin, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2guess if they arent gona take it over anymore they dont care where stuff is. XD

    (for those easily confused , im poking fun at history not current politics ...)
  • codeninja42, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2Comon. Picking out america on a globe inst really that hard. I mean all you have to do is point somewhere and you've found america.

    To quote rammstein : "Were all living in america"

    =P
    • MackPrime, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6you tell that stories at parties ?
  • dyvbond, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I remember watching a show ,"street smarts", the host went around and asked adults how many states America had. It was amazing how many got wrong, some said "49? I don't know, they keep changing!"
  • amcluesent, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2So long as Google can find it, let the UK kids get on with their glue sniffing.
  • BarriedaleNick, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Crock of *****.

    Magazine "suggests" that kids dont know geography. Creates stir and tries to sell magazines. Give me a peer reviewed paper not some ***** that "suggests" from a commercial organisation looking after it's own interests.
  • epoch, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9Absolute bollocks. As a product of the British education system I have never met a kid who couldn't locate the UK on a map. Bollocks.
  • Throlkim, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I also call ***** on this. 1000 pupils is far too small a focus group to make a claim like that. I can assure you that not only can most kids I know find the UK on a map, they also know more about the rest of the world than American kids.
  • morner, on 10/12/2007, -6/+0I call shenanigans.
    86% can identify Iraq, but only 80% can place the UK? Even adjusting for recent news coverage, there's no way that can be the case.
    • jhshukla, on 10/12/2007, -6/+186% CAN'T identify Iraq. RTFA u moron
  • MrBrightside, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2If only the map shown on the BBC article was a true map of the world - No Americia!
  • fayt, on 10/12/2007, -0/+31000 puplis = roughly 1 school. not very accurate ^^
  • unknowndomain, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Typical labor government, screws the whole country up every time the idiots vote them in - however I doubt this is accurate
  • doubleyoube, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I hate these ***** tests... Its rediculous. They go to the most poverty stricken hell hole in the UK, test 1000 people and then deem the whole UK retarded...

    I bet most of the little ingrates they asked this question to arn't even english.. hell! I bet they couldn't even speak our damn language.

    In fact, while writing this I decided to do my own little survey. I asked 2 people whether they thought that Take that suck. Turns out 100% of the world think that Take that suck. (50% think that robbie williams is alright though)

    Meh...
  • flotsky, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I went and had a look at the National Geographic Kids site. Top story for their magazine which they are pimping in this survey is about "Animal Ghosts". Hmmmm, maybe kids can do without that level of education.
  • kfconme, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2so it is just the accent that makes them seem more intelligent. ;x
  • tasharanee, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2American's aren't that bright either. I'm an American living in South Korea. I visited the USA this summer, and had a quick chat with the driver of another vehicle at a filling station. He asked where I'd just arrived from (my luggage with airport tags on it was in the car), and I replied, "South Korea". His response after a lengthy pause? "Wow, that must have been a long drive."
    • zoltanthebold, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Perhaps, but it's a common lament (amongst non-Americans mainly) that when yanks get fed up with where they are they just move to another part of the US. It's that big.

      Most big countries have enough homegrown diversity without having to look elsewhere. This in turn makes other countries, particularly if they speak a foreign language, seem like too much hassle.

      Although you have a point - everyone knows South Korea is next to France!
  • zoltanthebold, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Isn't this probably the same everywhere? I know it's always tempting to have a go at Americans about their Americo-centric view of the world, or the stupidity of Brits and how we're slipping compared to previous generations. But perhaps it's the norm.

    The US is a big country, big enough that it's hard to get to grips with its states without having to look elsewhere for other places. The UK seems to be slipping because most of us British on here have parents/grandparents who were brought up during the Empire, where the maps in schoolrooms coloured in the bits of the map we controlled (about 25% of earths landmass - all coloured in an easy to spot pink).

    My dads knowledge of world geography is superior to mine, but it is principally because he can follow up many countries/placenames with a neat story about the time we invaded/deposed a despot/shot a few locals to show them who's boss etc. From about the 18th century onwards we raided the world and collected places and countries as we went. By extension the US did the same, principally in the Americas. Beyond countries you share a language with or actually run who cares?

    Something like North Korea is a good example. We only care because they seem a bit unhinged and are tinkering with nuclear weapons. In times gone past they'd have been flattened and forgotten about. There would certainly be little interest in remebering where they are.

    If you grow up in somewhere like Finland, Senegal or ***** or whatever then all the cool ***** is happening elsewhere, conducted in a language the British and Americans have as a first language. Everyone looks towards us because this is where it's at. It was the same with ancient Rome and Greece. I don't approve of this snobbishness really, but it's kind of inevitable. Most of us don't ever need to be able to find Dubai or Baghdad on a map until we invade it. It was always thus.

    That said, the UK is pretty easy to spot being a small island near Europe. And the US is so big you can kind of guess. I blame Xboxes and drugs, the kids these days are out of their skulls on crack. It's true :)
  • JoeyDeacon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Given that the map of the UK is on TV thousands of times a day as some chirpy looking floozie tells us what wonderful weather we will be having in the next few days I don't beleive this. Even the thickest plank from the highest towerblock in Hull could not fail to remember the simple and quite distinct Island outline of the UK after a few days of watching TV and we all know that kids do little other than watch TV.
  • Disjunto, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3damn they must have tested at s special school... it's in the middle of the map you tards :P
  • somebitches, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3As I said before, this country, way down hill.

    There are gangs of 12 year old kids in Manchester packing heat!
  • jferrari, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4'British' pupils cannot locate UK?

    Perhaps it's because 1 in 5 pupils are not British.
  • B0jangles, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Why do I find this very hard to believe. Maybe something to do with 'National Geographic Kids'
  • Moggers87, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1FTA: "...questioned more than 1,000 six to 14-year-olds."

    At the age of seven, I wonder how many of you knew where your country was on a world map with no labels on it? At that age I didn't even realise we (the English and the Welsh) shared the same island as Scotland. Or maybe I was just a very stupid child.
    • Pigeon, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I remember learning that in Year 2 I think.
    • Teaboy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Pigeon: In year 2 you would have been 7.
  • nalf38, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Finally, it isn't just we Americans who are thought of us as stupid. Now, it's nearly everyone who speaks English. Thanks, Great Britain!!
  • ulcards2033, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Why does this even matter? If your going to another country by plane than you buy a ticket and dont need to plan a route, and if you are driving then you can look at a map. And guess what, since the beggining of map-making maps have had labels and names on them, otherwise they would just be pictures and would be useless for navigating.
  • richiestang78, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Yes America isnt alone for stupid people, its spreading every where.
  •  

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