A couple weeks ago, I made a bet with a friend regarding my roommates’ ability to label all 50 states on a blank map of the United States.
Claiming that this is common knowledge, he bet that there was no way that they could get one wrong, while I bet that none of the three could do it, saying that it should be common knowledge, but unfortunately is not.
It turns out that I was right, not one of them could do it, although they were given an unlimited amount of time and a word bank, which consisted of all of the states’ names.
After being right, I came to the realization that I would rather have been wrong. When some rather intelligent college honor roll students at a quality university, on the cusp of graduation mind you, cannot correctly label the 50 states, there is a problem with the American education system.
I got to thinking why this must be. Perhaps it is because we put way too much emphasis on meaningless tasks in elementary through high school education, and not enough on menial, yet necessary skills like being able to complete this, well, elementary assignment.
I would bet that at least seven or eight out of 10 students cannot complete this very simple test. And considering that the college youths in America are supposed the be the country’s bright future, I would dare to say that the percentage of non-college degree American citizens to get all 50 correct would be even worse, possibly less than one out of every 10!
If you ask me, and especially my good friend who lost the very steep bet, this is an abomination. It is a test of little more than some memorization and knowledge that all U.S. citizens should have.
In fact, like voting, I would say that it is a civic duty to be able to locate all 50 states on a map. And I do not believe that it is going too far to say that this should be a requirement on the naturalization test for citezinship.
Until the topsy-turvy education system of the United States gets its head screwed on straight though, we will continue to produce people that will not be able to read and write, add and subtract, and yes, know where all 50 states are located.
They may be able to get a college degree in economics or molecular biology, but not label the 50 states.
With that, I dare all those readers out there to take on this challenge and see if you can do it – without cheating. As you can see, a blank map of the lower 48 has been provided for you with a word bank of all those states.
Good luck, do America proud!
Answer key on page 5.
