Michael Crichton, the author behind such books as Jurassic Park and Disclosure (I hope you all know these were BOOKS before they were MOVIES) once said on Timeline:
"...if you didn't know history, you didn't know anything. You were a leaf that didn't know it was part of a tree."
This week in my upper level classes we were practicing numbers past 30. When we got into the thousands I handed out a matching game. I put significant events on one side of the paper and the years they happened on the other side. I didn’t expect them to know ALL of them, (like the year the first World Cup was played) but some of them. These kids have made me feel old before, but I felt really old when I was done with the day, and scared at how little World and even less American history these kids knew. I mean some of them didn’t even guess the right century! Here are some examples:
-A lot of kids didn’t know what a bi-centennial is, let alone what year it was (1976)
-A popular response to the question “When was John Lennon shot” was “Who cares”. (1980)
-One girl thought Columbus came to the “New World” in 1215 (that was the year of the Magna Carta)
-Never heard of the Magna Carta
-One response to the question “The year George Foreman became the oldest heavyweight champ?” was “Ms. N., George Forman isn’t a boxer he sells grills on TV.” (1994)
-“The Year Thanksgiving was declared a national holiday,” produced the question “Whatever year the pilgrims had dinner with the Indians.” (1941)
-They thought Pablo Picasso was born in the 1700s. (He died in 1971)
“The year Jack Ruby shot Lee Harvey Oswald” brought up questions like “Who is Jack Ruby?” and “Who is Lee Harvey Oswald?” And the best “Were they in a band together?” (1963)
-The year of the Battle of Little Big Horn: “What’s little Big Horn?” when responded with “You know Custar’s Last Stand? Sitting Bull? Crazy Horse? I got “Are you making this stuff up Ms. N.?” (1876)
-The year OJ Simpson was found not guilty of murder: “The guy from the Naked Gun movies?” (1995)
-The year Michael Jordan leads The Bulls to their 6th NBA Title” was answered with “How are we supposed to know we were like two.” (1998). I personally think this one is pretty sad, that was basketball at its greatest in my opinion. I truly feel bad for this generation that they didn’t get to experience that.
-The year Babe Ruth premiered in the MLB: This was the best follow up question of the day. “Do you mean the year it first started being sold at CONCESSION STANDS in Major League Baseball?” They know the candy bar is but not the Great Bambino himself. (1914)
YIKES!
On the bright side most of them DID know the year Columbus came (invaded) the “New World” (except for the girl that thought it was 1215). They knew the year of Pearl Harbor, Woodstock, the beginning of World War II, D-Day, and the JFK assignation. So I guess there’s a bright side to this darkly troubling story….
Am I wrong in being a little shocked here? Or as time passes do things become more and more insignificant?
No comments:
Post a Comment