1 in 3 British Kids say Winston Churchill first man to reach the Moon, 1 in 4 think he never existed

[baby_mouse]

Just in case you chaps think you're the only ones with an education problem...

"The children, aged between four and ten-years-old, confused the war time Prime Minister with the American astronaut Neil Armstrong, despite the fact they were born in different centuries and different countries.

But their lack of knowledge comes as little surprise. Last month a similar poll of British teenagers revealed a quarter think that Sir Winston never existed at all.

It transpired they associate the name Churchill with a nodding dog that stars in an advert for insurance, rather than the Second World War leader..."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/03/20/nchurchill120.xml

Just for a little perspective...

They are quite young, though, I suppose, in that sample...

:crazy:

[Zynx]

1. When people complain about U.S. stupidity, I've come into contact with Europeans

who have astounding levels of ignorance or misconceptions about world affairs.

[baby_mouse]

8. Quite true. Also, racism is very much alive and well in Europe.

Europe is not the glowingly progressive pot of gold at the end of the rainbow that a lot of US progressives think it is. BITS of it are, sure... but they are small bits.

[Echo In Light]

15. Britain has greater acceptance of the tip-toe techno totalitarian "$ecurity" grid also

You know, the ol give up your liberty for security switcheroo.

[Buzz Clik]

2. Between 4 and 10? I think that doesn't represent an educational crisis.

Considering that our junior geniuses in high school can't find 90% of the countries in the world on a map or even the states in the US...

[baby_mouse]

5. :D Okay, maybe not a crisis, sure...

But *I* knew the difference between Winston Churchill and Neil Armstrong when I was a youngster at primary school and I'm sure everyone else did, too!

TBH, I only posted this because it's the association that I find weird, why Churchill of all people?

[Buzz Clik]

11. Okay. Just asked the 8-year-old ....

She could tell me the name of the first guy on the moon, but she never heard of Churchill (Wade or Winston ;)). However, being an American kid, I asked her who Roosevelt was, and she told me.

I figure that little British kids should know who led their country through WWII, and our little monsters should have a glimmer of their historical leaders.

[Darth_Kitten]

25. Maybe it's only fair play that Churchill is being misunderstood......

he was pretty good at believing non-truths about people in order to boost up the characters of HIS ancestors......but still,no excuse for ignorance.

[muriel_volestrangler]

24. Multiple choice questions, I imagine

and asking 4 year olds about this is pointless. I wouldn't expect them to know anything about history or politics. If the 10 year old still don't know the difference, then that's a problem - but there's no link to the actual survey, so we've no idea what the real breakdown of answers were (or how the multiple choices were phrased). Without that, all this is fit for is a 'hummphh' from the retired colonel readers of the Telegraph.

[baby_mouse]

36. You are very probably right. NT

[Zynx]

28. I know for a fact in first grade everyone in my elemntary school knew who those two were.

[Zynx]

27. Considering European and Chinese students in Madison can't tell me what

states Wisconsin borders, I'm not going to criticize.

[Gormy Cuss]

3. Now that's funny.

Wasn't Winston Churchill the protagonist in 1984?

[baby_mouse]

7. I can just see him stumbling out of the lander like a potato in a fish-bowl.

And, actually, the "one small step for man" thing is exactly the sort of thing he would've said...

[marmar]

4. Britain too? It's the Global War on Brains!

:dunce:

:dunce:

:dunce:

:dunce:

[baby_mouse]

9. For sure. There's less overt propaganda here but there's just as much "dumbing down".

Maybe more, in some places, and maybe more successful...

[Echo In Light]

16. I would seriously question "less overt propaganda here." Our press is quite obedient, to be sure

[baby_mouse]

20. Yeah, but you don't get Rush Limbaugh and Anne Coulter and the like,

There have been a few forays into that kind of thing but they haven't got very far. There's propaganda, certainly, but not nearly as *overt*.

[Echo In Light]

30. There isn't the vast, ongoing, phony National $ecurity State war profiteering scheme...

That requires 24/7 FEAR propaganda to coerce the public mind.

[no_hypocrisy]

6. * would've given the same answers if asked.

[Lobster Martini]

10. On the positive side, that means that 5 of 12 know something about history...

Unless there were some who thought that the moon doesn't exist either. Then my math is wrong.

[Orsino]

12. I'll put our twenty-one and overs up against their four-to-tenners...

...and probably won't be too proud of the results.

[pitohui]

13. 1 in 3 british kids enjoy the british sense of humor and fucking with poll takers

they're called british for a reason and the british sense of humor is one of those reasons

the kids are having lots of fun with these silly poll takers and good for them!

[Codedonkey]

14. Looks like America is exporting stuff (ignorance) still...

teehee teehee. :P

[depakid]

17. The difference is that these are little kids

whereas one see similar results (and/or has similar experiences) with American adults.

[entanglement]

18. LOL

[RB TexLa]

19. Every country has their ignorant. You just feed them more "teevee" and hope you aren't near them

when they decide to start killing people.

[Codedonkey]

21. I can't swallow the idea of calling little kids ignorant

because they don't know exactly who Winston Churchill was. I mean come on, four to ten years old? Now, had these been results from high school or college students then it would be different.

[Zorra]

22. This phenomenon is caused by television. It's called "Video Lobotomy".

Watch too much TV and you lose parts of your brain.

[Diclotican]

23. baby_mouse

baby_mouse

When I was 5-7I doubt I really care how the first man on the moon was, or that Neil Armstrong was the first man on the moon.. Even that I was following the Space Shuttle mission with deep interest from 1984 and forward... But after the age of 10, when I first was allowed to read the "big books" home and in the library I was knowing more about the American Astronaut Neil Armstrong. And then the british Wartime Prime minister Winston Churchill. My foster parents was old enough to have live true the war, and was maybe sheltering us from that area of the world history..

Today, I guess we should now about how he first man on the moon was. Or that Winston Churchill was the war time prime minister in UK..

But as some have pointed out before. It can be the famous british sense of humor. The more black the humor is, the more biting are the humor.. And I guess it may have a play here too... Even that I doubt it some how...

By the way, I love british sens of humor.. Excellent sense of timing often;)

Diclotican

Sorry my bad English, not my native language

[Darth_Kitten]

26. There is ignorance in ALL countries......

Lots of Canadians like to knock Americans for being ignorant of their and the world's history, but they can be pretty ignorant themselves.

[Zynx]

29. I know Canadians who diss me for not knowing who their PM was 5 decades ago.

I then asked them, "Name the last five U.S. presidents in order." and they said "Uhhhhh...."

[Buzz Clik]

31. Most Canadians I know can name the past 5 presidents. In contrast,

... most Americans I know cannot name the Canadian PM, even the smart and informed ones.

[Zynx]

32. I don't blame our educational system for the fact that kids can't do that.

I blame the media for not covering foreign affairs.

As for the Canadian issue, we both know small numbers of Canadians. I'd be curious to do a poll. My guess is the vast bulk can't do it. Ignorance is not a U.S. phenomenon. Neither is racism and bigotry. One thing I've learned in my studies is that there are no beacons of wisdom and understanding out there. They still have to be made.

[Buzz Clik]

33. You're correct. Every Canadian I know is either a grad student or a professor.

Not exactly a representative cross section.

[Darth_Kitten]

34. That's what I don't like, if you going to challenge somebody on current events, etc.....

At least how some knowledge to back you up. :) It's very easy to knock the Yanks, WAY too easy. :)

[LWolf]

35. I don't know about the UK,

but in primary school children don't study 20th century history. U.S. curriculum focuses on pre-history, ancient civilizations, and world and U.S. history through the 19th century K-8th grade.

Here is a question I've been asked at least once a week all year long, by my 6th - 8th grade students?

"Why do we have to learn about history? I mean, it's over. It's the past. Let's move on. NOW is important."

They really don't want to hear the answer. They want to make their point, that they don't value history, and anything you say to dispute that goes in one ear and out the other.

Their final project this year requires them to analyze cause and effect relationships in historical events, and make connections to current events. They are even more horrified by this.