Did you learn Geography in school?

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Did you learn Geography in school?

by Unmistakably Liz Posted November 03, 2009 17:24:17

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I never was taught Geography in school, I was born in 1983 and educated in New York City. I was wondering if patriotism went to far? Because we weren't taught much about world history either. I feel sort of cheated in my education.

Believe me i have embarrassed myself due to my lack of education, i have been insensitive to peoples cultures because i knew nothing about them. When I was a door to door sales person I walked into a mosk, with my head uncovered and walked up to a man and tried to shake hands with him.

Once when i was selling Art in union square park I asked an australian tourist how the oompoluma tribe was doing.... I meant the Aboriginal people....

I think it all starts with teaching geography to give people this sensitivity.

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+3 raves Min Carter November 03, 2009 17:29:50

Answered: Yes, and i was educated in the USA
Yes, I did learn geography in school. As a former teacher, I also taught geography.
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+1 raves
CHARON November 05, 2009 01:03:40 (edited)

Answered: No, and i was educated in the USA
I grew up in NY I was to busy getting high...
+1 raves
Consersoldier November 04, 2009 14:39:40 (edited)

Answered: Yes, and i was educated in the USA
We used to have capital of states and countries test. Mountain ranges and lakes and where they were located. How many continents, oceans and their deepest points. It is sort of useless trivia but a lot more was learned in the process and the rest of the world was learned. Is it even taught anymore?
+1 raves
Little Tina November 04, 2009 06:17:35

Answered: Yes, and i was educated in the USA
It is not your fault. Public schools have not been teaching our kids Geography, Civics, or American History for a long time. I went to a parochial school for 12 years from 1963-1975. I thank God for that education. I believe younger kids are at a disadvantage because the public schools have not taught them the right stuff. I have 5 kids who, for the most part were educated in our substandard public schools. They concentrate more on politically correct shit than what these kids really need to make it in today's world. to me that is a crying ass shame.
+1 raves
WTF, Liz. November 04, 2009 05:47:22

Answered: Yes, and i was educated in the USA
+1 raves
The Brave Little Toaster November 04, 2009 05:13:09

Answered: Yes, and i was not educated in the USA
I didn't pay attention to it though.
+1 raves
moomoof "Jin Kazama!" November 04, 2009 04:14:52

Answered: No, and i was educated in the USA
Vaguely unless you count the map on my organizer
+1 raves
Jon November 04, 2009 04:01:06

Answered: Yes, and i was educated in the USA
yep, at one time they actually taught geography and history in schools.
H November 04, 2009 02:19:10

Answered: Yes, and i was not educated in the USA
Yes, and very well actually. All the way up until college. And it is an obligatory subject for most of us. It also contains alot of geology.
+1 raves
highdesertgemini November 04, 2009 00:04:03

Answered: Yes, and i was educated in the USA
I did learn geography in school, but it was so long ago that a good portion of what I learned is obsolete!
+1 raves
MontZ de kaulitz November 03, 2009 23:26:39

Answered: Yes, and i was not educated in the USA
I didn´t learned anything but yes, they at least tried to teach me something
+1 raves
Barbara Hasler November 03, 2009 23:26:28

Answered: Yes, and i was not educated in the USA
Yes I was educated in the US. I also had a jig say puzzle of the 50 states. Curiosity and the news led me to study the world and the locations of countries. This is still a work in progress.
+1 raves
tammerz/zɹǝɯɯɐʇ November 03, 2009 23:21:03

Answered: Yes, and i was educated in the USA
Only in 7th grade, but yeah, I've had a geography class.
+1 raves
Angcares November 03, 2009 23:17:31 (edited)

Answered: Yes, and i was not educated in the USA
I learned Geography at school and found it boring, but I now think what I learned was very useful. I was also taught History, which taught us about the origins of other countries and peoples. I love History now and if I took Georgraphy now, I think I would feel much different to what I did before, because it is an very interesting and useful subject.
+1 raves
Nicky November 03, 2009 22:45:32

Answered: Yes, and i was not educated in the USA
We learned geography as well as world history.
+1 raves
Naui November 03, 2009 22:06:22

Answered: Yes, and i was educated in the USA
I got an "A" on a test because I knew where Ipanema was.
Unmista... to Naui November 03, 2009 23:22:49

That was my grandma's favorite song.
+1 raves
Howard Beale II November 03, 2009 22:06:09

Answered: No, and i was not educated in the USA
I am sexagenarian and still learning. The day I stop learning will be the day I die.

Unmistakably Liz, you are fortunate in one major sense, and that is that YOU REALIZE that your spent years at schools was not the equivalent of education. Once a person realizes that simple fact, s/he is able to make an effort, and educate her/him self. Those who falsely believe they have received an education never even think to seek real knowledge.

Howard Zinn, my favorite historian and author, once said, "When I got out of school, I began to learn things." And I can certainly empathize.

Speaking of Howard Zinn, his book "A People's History of the United States" can be read online at http://www.historyisaweapon.c... in case you are interested in learning history from a different perspective. For anyone who has not read this book, I highly recommend it.
+1 raves
nightlight November 03, 2009 21:32:15 (edited)

Answered: Yes, and i was educated in the USA
Liz, you said "I have been insensitive to peoples cultures..." ; you don't have to be 'sensitive' to the cultures of other people although, you might want to learn the truth about them for your own benefit and safety; don't let yourself be suckered into the idea that if people in another culture do something that, in our culture, would be abhorent, cruel, illegal, or immoral, it's OK because "that's just their culture" - if you allow yourself to believe this, you will be practicing cultural relativism - a ridiculous concept that attempts to get people to believe that if someone else does something that we know is wrong, we should excuse it and not judge them because "that's just their culture". In the U.K., the acceptance of, belief in, and love affair with cultural relativism by most of the people in the government has significantly contributed to the demise of that country's sovereignty, and greatly aided the Muslim immigrants in their efforts to take it over.
You said that you had once walked into a mosque with your head uncovered and tried to shake hands with a man there and indicated that you thought that this was a terrible mistake on your part and horribly wrong; IT WASN'T WRONG OR A MISTAKE ON YOUR PART; this is America and no religion has the right to dictate to us h...

Liz, you said "I have been insensitive to peoples cultures..." ; you don't have to be 'sensitive' to the cultures of other people although, you might want to learn the truth about them for your own benefit and safety; don't let yourself be suckered into the idea that if people in another culture do something that, in our culture, would be abhorent, cruel, illegal, or immoral, it's OK because "that's just their culture" - if you allow yourself to believe this, you will be practicing cultural relativism - a ridiculous concept that attempts to get people to believe that if someone else does something that we know is wrong, we should excuse it and not judge them because "that's just their culture". In the U.K., the acceptance of, belief in, and love affair with cultural relativism by most of the people in the government has significantly contributed to the demise of that country's sovereignty, and greatly aided the Muslim immigrants in their efforts to take it over.
You said that you had once walked into a mosque with your head uncovered and tried to shake hands with a man there and indicated that you thought that this was a terrible mistake on your part and horribly wrong; IT WASN'T WRONG OR A MISTAKE ON YOUR PART; this is America and no religion has the right to dictate to us how we should dress, within or without their place of worship, or how to behave. Period. And I would advise you to stay out of mosques; you don't seem to have any idea how dangerous Muslims really are or of the horrible things they are taught by their religious leaders in mosques. To better understand what I have said above, please read "The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam and the Crusades" by Robert Spencer; you would benefit from this book immensely.
(more)
+2 raves
parigino November 03, 2009 20:48:07

Answered: Yes, and i was educated in the USA
yes and i know how to spell MISSISSIPPI!
+1 raves
QueliKelly November 03, 2009 20:46:07

Answered: No, and i was educated in the USA
very minimally. i totally understand why americans aren´t that good at it, because when i was growing up we went through us geography a few times and europe and africa maybe once or twice. i learned geography mostly thanks to my parents and to being a lover of travelling. but even today there is no way i could map out the east coast of the us or name the capitals.
+2 raves
Fieyqa November 03, 2009 20:18:03

Answered: No, and i was not educated in the USA
I did,last year.
Now i'm taking other course...
So,pretty much on a no....
+2 raves
Seger November 03, 2009 19:16:27

Answered: Yes, and i was educated in the USA
yeah in like 7th grade
+2 raves
kevracer November 03, 2009 19:02:54

Answered: Yes, and i was educated in the USA
I graduated high school in '76 (1976, not 1876) and was taught geography.
+2 raves
Firekitty~ IS GIVING THANKS... November 03, 2009 18:51:43

Answered: Yes, and i was educated in the USA
Yes I did...
+2 raves
Annie November 03, 2009 18:48:29

Answered: Yes, and i was educated in the USA
It was not my favorite subject and as I recall it was a very short class. I actually wish I had learned more, but it's never too late to learn.
+2 raves
JarJarThinks November 03, 2009 18:18:41

Answered: No, and i was educated in the USA
In my day, there were taboos and laws against the teaching of geography. If you wanted to know about geography, you learned it from Dirk on the playground, who had access to the National Geographic Magazines his older brother hid under the mattress. Nowadays, they openly teach it all over the country with no shame or permission slips from parents! Geography classes. I tell ya, that's whats wrong with America.
+2 raves
Denny November 03, 2009 18:05:37

Answered: Yes, and i was educated in the USA
As the Basics but also I collect Stamps worldwide so I had to learn a little more.
+2 raves
Jester November 03, 2009 17:59:02

Answered: Yes, and i was educated in the USA
It was required, but I have not had it in two years.
+1 raves
Kennedy1st November 03, 2009 17:58:22

Answered: Yes, and i was educated in the USA
When I was in grammer school, I was having a hard time learning to spell Geography.\My teacher said always remember this setence......
George Edison's Old Grandfather Rode A Pig Home Yesterday.The first letters of the words in the sentence,spell geography.
Stupid little trivia fact but thought I would share it.
Kennedy1st
+1 raves
littlebuffalo55 November 03, 2009 17:55:47 (edited)

Answered: Yes, and i was educated in the USA
I did learn it in school but not public, private. I had a ringer though, as my Pop was a Pilot for TWA. So not only Geography but Navigation as well.
+1 raves
randall g November 03, 2009 17:52:41

Answered: Yes, and i was educated in the USA
...or closer to the truth is that I was required to take the classes. Didn't help much since I slept through most of them. (Not proud of that, just saying...)
But I think it would serve us all well to learn about other lands and cultures.
+2 raves
Ugly Taco November 03, 2009 17:49:17

Answered: Yes, and i was educated in the USA
It was one of my favorite subjects in school.
+1 raves
Linda November 03, 2009 17:44:08

Answered: Yes, and i was educated in the USA
Yes I was. I didnt do the very best with geography but I did alright. I wonder how many countries I could name now with out looking at a previous map that has all the countries listed lol
+1 raves
Mel November 03, 2009 17:44:02

Answered: Yes, and i was educated in the USA
I learned in school but I learned mostly of other cultures as you speak when I was in the service.
+1 raves
calebkoestler November 03, 2009 17:38:56

Answered: Yes, and i was not educated in the USA
i did pretty balance with the other subjects
+1 raves
mano November 03, 2009 17:36:48

Answered: Yes, and i was not educated in the USA
but only of my country. it was very difficult, esp maps
+2 raves
Henrik the Harp November 03, 2009 17:35:33

Answered: Yes, and i was not educated in the USA
I thought everyone studied geografy, for me it started in 4'th grade, I was educated in Sweden. Now I know why so many Americans confuses Sweden with Switzerland.
+1 raves
John November 03, 2009 17:32:59

Answered: Yes, and i was educated in the USA
Yes, we studied geography extensively (in South Carolina).

When I was in school, I could take a blank map, identify every state, its capital, its primary crops and industries, and significant land features, such as major lakes and rivers.

I could do equally well on a map of the world.

Now we have kids who can't locate anything any further away than the local mall.
+2 raves
Zuggi November 03, 2009 17:30:20

Answered: No, and i was educated in the USA
I placed out of geography; I suspect I knew more than the coach that taught it.

America teaches history extremely badly. It's presented as a uninterrupted series of events leading to a natural conclusion. If you really want to learn history, learn the questions.
+3 raves
Min Carter November 03, 2009 17:29:50

Answered: Yes, and i was educated in the USA
Yes, I did learn geography in school. As a former teacher, I also taught geography.