Why many Americans don't even know their own states?

Question

We all know there're 50 of them but I recently did a survey and many had clue where Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Idaho, Wyoming, Rhode Island, Conneticutt are. Those were the states that which had the most wrong answers

Answer 1

As a teacher and a student, I can tell you the American education system is very, very, very sub-standard, especially K-12.

And Geography is one of the subjects that has nearly fell off the map (no pun intended). It was replaced by "social studies". It should have been supplemented, not replaced.

Answer 2

Same reason some people misspell words or use incorrect grammar (wink wink, nudge nudge). These smaller skills aren't really indicative of higher-order intelligence.

People make a big deal of such things because intelligence is hard to measure -- so once they find something that can actually be quantified, no matter how small, they publicize it as though it's a symptom of a larger problem. Well, it isn't. Intelligence just isn't that simplistic.

Given that it's not important to know all 50 states in order to demonstrate intelligence, we should move on to a different question -- whether we consider it culturally important. In other words, do we as a country feel that all of our citizens should know the states? When we're asked the question directly, we say yes. But our actions speak otherwise -- we don't spend a lot of time teaching it (or geography in general, really) in schools. It's well down our list of cultural priorities.

If it helps, the states you list are understandably easy to mix up. People confuse Minnesota and Wisconsin, Connecticut and Rhode Island, and Wyoming and Colorado all the time, because of their location, cultural similarities, and similar shapes and sizes. Idaho and Iowa are understandable as well, because they're not the most populated or visited states. People tend to remember the states they've been to most.

Answer 3

How many Americans did you test, and where did you test them? AKA, how robust was your survey?

Did you test people in those misplaced states? Did they give you the same proportional results?

After all, there are 50 of them. Do you really need to know where they are geographically? You write out an address, post it, it gets there... you, personally, do not have to drive. Send an email.

Folks who need to know that kind of stuff will know it. Those who don't- won't. As a student of biology, I sometimes become exasperated when random people I meet do not know the name of a common tree, all the while professing that they love nature (my Japanese friends are very bad at this (we discuss japanese trees)) and go on walks and are in tune with their environment, etc. But I'm told that people generally don't know the kinds of things I think about every day- but then again, it's my job to think about that kind of stuff. Others seem perfectly happy and able to live without knowing that that nice green stuff they just sat down in is Toxicodendron radicans.

My point is that 50 names and relatively unimportant positions could be seen as scholarly baggage to many.
One of my professors conducted a project to see if people knew where state capitols were located: You had an outline of the state, and mad a dot where you thought the city was; then statistical analysis was run.... Anyway, most people haven't a clue. And why should they? Who really needs to know. FYI: Oklahoma City, OK, was the all round closest, 'cause it's almost in the center, and that's where folks put their dot when uncertain.

Such a survey as yours could be quite interesting with the number of analyses you could run. Just as you will probably get differing political opinions were you to speak with Americans at home or abroad- those abroad probably have Very different opinions about foreigners- you could look at the spatial distributions or other correlations of your survey participants (assuming you also collected that information).

Answer 4

First, there is no geopgraphy class. It is usually incorporated into history class, but even then more interest is shown towards the events than their geographic locations. In other words, we've all heard about Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, but where exactly is Gettysburg? [it's in PA.] Most of us have heard of General Custer and his "Last Stand", but where exactly did he make it? [Little Big Horn is in Montana.] Every classroom usually has a US and world map on the wall, but very few teachers are given the time to allow the kids to really study it and have to move on to cover other things higher ups [read non-teaching administrators and committees and boards] say need to be covered in a given year. Don't blame the teachers, and only partially blame the students for not at least glancing at the map that is sure to be in their book.
I have to admit, had it not been for the fact my family took off every summer, right before the school year, [I loved the vacations cause they were fun, but I hated them cause I knew when they were over it would mean school] in our RV and went all over the eastern US, I would not know the geographical relation of all the states. I used to look through the road atlas alot. And, it wasn't until I got into the Army that I REALLY learned about historical sites--such as Little Big Horn and Gettysburg.
Out of the ones you list, I have to admit it would take me awhile to find Iowa. I am actually not sure ...it's east of the Mississippi west of West Virginia-ish, right? Guess I had better break out the atlas. All the others I could find quickly.
Edit: Okay, looked it up. Wow!! was I wrong. But I still knew right where all the others were, does that count?

Answer 5

I would attribute that to being a nation that is becoming more global. Schools are shifting their focus to international studies as opposed to teaching all the states in the United States. Many adults don't look at maps everyday and it's hard to retain information that you don't use frequently.

If you live out West, you're less likely to know what those teeny tiny bunched up east coast states are.

If you live in the East, you're probably not going to recognize those large and abnormally square slabs of land in the West or Midwest.

Answer 6

I had a friend who was a Geography/Education Major, and he did student teaching with an eighth grade classroom. They kids were asked to label the fifty states, identify each state's capitol city, and identify our two neighboring countries. He told me that many of the kids labeled Georgia as being in the northeast, and mixed up Canada and Mexico. For kids going to high school in a year that's pretty pathetic.

Answer 7

I remember taking a geography class in middle school but it focused mainly on the global geography. Other than history courses which focuses on history, the last time i remember learning American geography was in elementary school where we had to name all 50 states and capitals on the map...

I guess most people can't retain things they learn in elementary school....

Answer 8

I would say 35% could probably pass a US test if put in front of them with no help. and that's probably a stretch, kinda sad if you ask me, people just don't care anymore

Answer 9

i know where all the states are. and i live in one of those states that got the most wrong answers