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Geography is getting lost in time
(by Barbara Christian - April 14, 2011)
WINDOW ON MAIN STREET, BY BARBARA CHRISTIAN
Geography is getting lost in time
Those pundit people who talk on the TV say there is an anti-smart movement going on in the country, a kind of backlash backhand directed at the current occupant of the White House 'cause of all his book larnin' and such.
Bad imitations aside, there is evidence of this "race to the bottom of SAT scoring," and it's been well documented in the media.
There was the politician who didn't know that Africa is a continent and swore she could see Russia from Alaska.
On the stump recently, another anti-smarty-pants claimed that "the shot heard 'round the world" originated in Concord and Lexington, N.H. Except that historic event happened in Massachusetts.
But are people really striving for willful ignorance? Probably not. My theory is that they were shortchanged in certain areas of their early education.
Once upon a time, there was a stand-alone school subject that taught what was where in the world. We called it "geography." Today, it's lumped in with history, civics or social studies and not getting its due.
Those who experienced geography classes in their purest form way back when can look at map of the United States and still point to and name all 50 states, even those similar-looking square ones.
Teachers complain that school kids can't do that anymore and that they regularly confuse Idaho with Iowa. Those who don't live in the Buckeye State confuse Idaho, Iowa and Ohio. Must be those similar "o" sounds.
But, truth to tell, it's not just the kids who are geographically challenged. Their parents are also confused when it comes to what is where.
A couple of weeks ago we reported that the folks over at Your Home Town Chagrin Falls had some trouble with their knowledge of the local geography when they decided to hold their "Wine by the Falls" fundraiser 10 miles from the falls in Shaker Heights. We'll give them the benefit of the doubt. Maybe they just define "by" differently.
Or maybe it's the wine that's causing this geographobia, because another well-intentioned organization, the Chagrin Valley Women's League, seems to have been stricken with the malady.
That group's May 14 benefit, "Vineyard in the Valley," is set at the Barrington Clubhouse in Aurora. True, Aurora is just down the road, and while it may be "valley adjacent," it is not "the valley."
And of course there is my favorite corruption of local geography wrought by the U.S. Post Office many years ago when it decided that -- postally speaking -- every town in the 44022 (and later 44023) ZIP code should be known as "Chagrin Falls."
This geographical conglomeration resulted in not just an identity crisis for residents, but the confusion sent a lot of tax money to the wrong place.
So what does all of this prove, you may ask? Is is that geography is still relevant and necessary to understand our world and our own back yard.
Education curriculum gurus should think about reinstating geography as a stand-alone subject.
Who knows? In time it could produce better informed politicians and filter tax dollars to the right places.
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