How Stupid Are America's Teens?
Very stupid, apparently.
Once the rejoicing at Osama bin Laden's death is over, we're still left with the queasy-making knowledge that a lot of America's young people, apparently, didn't know who he was. From Boing Boing:
In a company blog post today, Yahoo reported that two-thirds of people searching for "Who is Osama Bin Laden?" today were teenagers. Yes, that's right, a non-insignificant number of teenagers in America do not know who Osama bin Laden is.
According to Yahoo!, The Top Searched Questions on Osama bin Laden are (based on Sunday, 5/1):
1. Is Osama bin Laden dead?
2. How did Osama bin Laden die?
3. Who killed Osama bin Laden?
4. How old is Osama bin Laden
5. Who is Osama bin Laden
6. Where was Osama bin Laden killed?
7. Is Osama bin Laden dead or alive?
8. How tall is Osama bin Laden?News of Osama bin Laden's death seemed to have struck a chord with younger folks who grew up during the war on terrorism.
However, it seems teens ages 13-17 were seeking more information as they made up 66% of searches for "who is osama bin laden?"
Why is it always "Who is Osama bin Laden?" Why is it never "Who is Lady Gaga?"
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Oct '10
Re: How Stupid Are America's Teens?
Should I be more bothered by the apparent stupidity of American Teens or that Internet Search Engines know the ages of those doing the searches?
Jun '10
Re: How Stupid Are America's Teens?
Chalk up another failure for our education system.
My son is in fourth grade. Yesterday morning we talked about Osama Bin Laden's death at the breakfast table. (I don't think a 9-year-old is too young to know, and in any case, he was born a few days after 9-11, so it has always been a part of his life.) When he came home from school, I asked if his teacher had said anything. The answer: No.
Okay, so maybe the school thinks 4th grade is too young. But our school board rep (a man who made tremendous contributions our local schools) passed away Saturday. Surely he was mentioned, I asked my son. Nope.
I guess the school is so busy "teaching to the test" that comes up this month, that there is no time to spare for talking about people who have a major influence on our students' lives, for good or ill.
Re: How Stupid Are America's Teens?
My youngest brother was a Y2K baby. A few months after 9/11, when my family was lunching at a local Indian restaurant, my little brother who was just barely two years old at the time spotted a table where two Sikhs were eating and pointed at them and said "Osama! Osama!" And he made his little hand into the shape of a gun and started making shooting sounds. We were all mortified. Thankfully the Sikhs were gracious.
I relate the story because I agree that teenagers have no excuse to be ignorant of who Osama bin Laden is. 9/11 was a major event within their lifetimes that deeply shaped the world they live in today. How unfortunate that parents allow their children to revel in oblivion.
Mar '11
Re: How Stupid Are America's Teens?
The teens aren't stupid - the education system and popular culture are stupid.
Dec '10
Re: How Stupid Are America's Teens?
Diane Ellis, Ed.: My youngest brother was a Y2K baby. A few months after 9/11, when my family was lunching at a local Indian restaurant, my little brother who was just barely two years old at the time spotted a table where two Sikhs were eating and pointed at them and said "Osama! Osama!" And he made his little hand into the shape of a gun and started making shooting sounds. We were all mortified. Thankfully the Sikhs were gracious.
I relate the story because I agree that teenagers have no excuse to be ignorant of who Osama bin Laden is. 9/11 was a major event within their lifetimes that deeply shaped the world they live in today. How unfortunate that parents allow their children to revel in oblivion. · May 3 at 8:35am
Sure, sure Diane..blame the youngest for your actions....tsk..! Your brother has my sympathy..
May '10
Re: How Stupid Are America's Teens?
I bet they know of the "Call of Duty" video games.
Seriously if the first guy in that screen shot is old enough to grow a beard, he is old enough to know who OBL was. (Ah, it is so good to type was here). The attention spans of the Twitterverse inhabitants will be the decline of civilisation.
Mar '11
Re: How Stupid Are America's Teens?
Maybe they are not stupid, simply existentialists. Do any of us really know who Osama bin Laden was? (Isn't it wonderful to be able to refer to OBL in the past tense?)
Edited on May 3, 2011 at 6:02pmJun '10
Re: How Stupid Are America's Teens?
If they just went by what they learned in recent Hollywood movies, the most dangerous terrorists are all Neo-Nazis from Eastern Europe.
May '10
Re: How Stupid Are America's Teens?
You forgot the home grown southerner/White Aryan brotherhood types that are the real threat to Western society (sarcasm off)
Jan '11
Re: How Stupid Are America's Teens?
My daughter told me that they were discussing the bin Laden episode in school, and one student mentioned that Osama was at "room temperature."
Room temperature had to be explained. (My daughter knew it, but many in the class didn't.)
Edited on May 3, 2011 at 5:59pmApr '11
Re: How Stupid Are America's Teens?
I'm afraid stupidity trends upward. I work with men in the flight simulation industry who know each year's winner of American Idol. They also know who OBL was, but don't understand or have never heard of the debt limit. At a certain point we each make choices to be informed or be entertained. Or we watch the econstories.tv videos and do both.
Mar '11
Re: How Stupid Are America's Teens?
That sums it up pretty well. In a culture where intelligence is frowned upon, what else can you expect?
Edited on May 3, 2011 at 6:13pmMay '10
Re: How Stupid Are America's Teens?
In my mind it is ignorance, not intelligence. How rarely does one SEE the images of 9/11 in the media. How rarely are the events of 9/11 linked to any name, lest one be accused of Islamophobia? If children have the truth concealed from them, how surprised should we be that they don't know?
May '10
Re: How Stupid Are America's Teens?
Who is Lady Gaga?
Feb '11
Re: How Stupid Are America's Teens?
Fifty years ago, few students in my high school knew where Vietnam was. Few knew who the president of Mexico was.
Not saying that the educational system is not getting worse, just that popular culture trumps the world news for teenagers.
I do not care that they do not know OBL, but do care that they graduate but cannot do simple algebra.
Oct '10
Re: How Stupid Are America's Teens?
That's the first question that occurred to me too.
After reading the article, though I wondered why Rob is asking how stupid America's teens are. According to Yahoo: "25% of searches overall for Osama came from those under 24." How stupid are the other 75% of older adults?
There's a big difference between 13 year olds and 19 year olds, of course, but teenagers have always been wrapped up in various forms of peer bonding and separation -- call it an evolutionary imperative. I certainly know a lot more now about events that never even crossed my radar in high school.
It does seem worth noting that these "stupid" kids actually wanted to know who bin Laden was and how he died enough to do a search, presumably on their own!
Aug '10
Re: How Stupid Are America's Teens?
There is a large difference between stupid and uninformed. Schools don't talk about the war on terror or our battles in Afghanistan and Iraq -- except to criticize Bush. While I would like to chalk it all up to partisanship, and an attempt to brainwash our children, I can't. Teachers -- particularly primary and middle school teachers -- spend so much time focusing on "Standards" that they don't have time to discuss things like the war on terror. Even for my generation any significant discussion of Current Events didn't occur until 11th grade when our Social Studies teacher made us all subscribe to The New Republic and the National Review.
The parents aren't talking about it either. Think about it. A teen would have been between 8 and 3 when 9/11 occurred. There were a couple of years of pure OBL talk, but then the tone shifted to "Bush Lied People Died." How often was OBL mentioned in the news compared to Idol winners, or Plame Blame, or Lohan, or...?
Mar '11
Re: How Stupid Are America's Teens?
Having Bill Ayers write the "progressive" educational "standards" probably didn't help.
Jun '10
Re: How Stupid Are America's Teens?
And how many of the ill-informed teens' parents are Truthers?
Aug '10
Re: How Stupid Are America's Teens?
David,
The fact that Standards have become so controlled by the Legislature, and in CA the unions, is definitely a problem.