THE BLIGHT OF IGNORANCE

The giant chasm between the “haves” and “have nots” has evolved into a vast abyss that separates the “know somethings” from the “know nothings.”

The area of general knowledge – that common ground of lore and information that we believe binds us as a community – is missing, victim to the testing scourge that eradicates all subjects which do not appear on the national and state assessments.

Until Obama, fourth grade students identified our president as George Washington, and were shocked to hear that George Washington has been dead for more than 200 years. The pilgrims and Columbus have no familiar ring, nor Hitler or Osama bin Laden.

“What country do you live in?” Most reply “Mexico,” and when pushed, come up with “Honduras” and “Guatemala.” They can’t differentiate between their state and their city and a majority of ten year-olds do not know their birthday or address.

What holiday celebrates our nation’s birthday? The agreed answer: “Cinco de Mayo,” and even the songs easily sung – “America” and “America the Beautiful,” – never mind our national anthem – are unknown to these children.

Eight years into the war in Iraq, only one fifth grader had heard of Iraq or the war in Afghanistan. Some students cannot identify a map of the United States nor name its capital. Of course it doesn’t help that very few classrooms have the large maps that were a fixture in every room before budget constraints found them to be unnecessary.

The great city that surrounds them offers, often within walking distance, science centers, libraries, swimming pools, museums of natural history, ethnic culture, and art. A short bus ride away are concert halls and theaters. Almost all have programming that attempts to reach these children. But they have had none of these experiences other than on school field trips, which have now been greatly reduced. True, many children have been to Las Vegas, but few have seen the ocean, five miles down the road.