Education in the U.S.

[anne_t_squires]

 "Tonks_op" wrote:
>
> Just watched Jay Leno do a street interview with a number of teenagers 
> who were in high school. He asked them the simplest questions such as 
> how many Great Lakes are there, where is the Berlin wall, where is 
> Iraq, and you should have heard the answers they gave. What is 
> happening to the education in our country!!! 
> 
> Tonks_op



Anne Squires:

You do realize that those "Jay Walking" segments do not represent the
American public as a whole, right?  Jay is trying to get laughs;
therefore, he purposely goes out looking for stupid people who are
going to give stupid answers.  He has an agenda and it is not to show
a random sample of the US population and what they know.  It wouldn't
be funny to most people unless "the contestants" didn't know the
answers and furthermore, didn't realize just how basic the information
is.  The very fact that these segments are funny to a majority of his
viewers indicates that the majority of his viewers not only know the
answers, but they also know how easy these questi0ons are. It is for
this reason that he does not go to UCLA, Stanford, or Berkley to
interview these people.  Also, you do realize that these segments are
heavily edited.  How many people got the answers right and were edited
out?  I bet a lot.  It wouldn't be funny to see a bunch a people
correctly answering these questions; therefore, he doesn't show those
people.

I suggest that you watch the next few episodes of "Cash Cab."  You may
not have ever seen that; it comes on a cable channel.  I can't
remember which at the moment.  Anyway, people in New York City hail a
cab, get in, and it turns out that they are on a game show.  The
"cabbie," who is really the show's host, asks the cab riders
increasingly more difficult questions as they make their way to their
destination.  I am always rather impressed by how much these people
know.  It's very entertaining.

In the state where I live students have to pass a Graduation Test in
order to graduate from high school.  Believe me when I say that if
they don't the answers to those questions they will never receive a
diploma.
>