Proof that the years spent by the NEA (National Education Association), dumbing down educational standards has resulted this sort of ineptitude, but with a high GPA.
I dunno. I know the clip plays into every dumb blonde stereotype ever - and that’s why it’s getting such coverage on You Tube and even CNN. It lets us ugly people feel superior.
But I also know that when you’re put on the spot under bright lights and you’re obviously shaking nervous, your IQ drops 40 points. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s far more intelligent than this 20 second clip of a very bad night for her would otherwise indicate.
Besides, she’s right. People - Americans included - should look at maps more often. Couldn’t hurt. I’ve heard dumber from the President. And Marmot commenters.
So an inarticulate beauty pageant contestant is better proof than an inarticulate sitting US President? At least she didn’t say she was working hard to harm America, like President Bush did.
I’ve interviewed and read resumes of college grads from state schools and lower University of California schools (Riverside and Santa Cruz, for example) where it boggles my mind that they passed English 101.
That kind of depends. On whether America’s future will be determined by its knowledge of geographical trivia. Or people who are as glib as actors in movies. I personally think that people who as smooth as Mao Zedong or Josef Stalin aren’t necessarily an asset to their respective countries.
Look, the poor girl is shitting herself, if you asked her the question by herself she’s obviously be able to articulate a better answer.
The fact is, americans don’t learn about the rest of the world at school. history is american history. geography is american geography. most kids from other OECD countries learn about ancient greece/rome and all the rest, and study the world map.
Americans are ignorant, not because they’re stupid - they’re not, far from it - but because there is a severe defecit of information about the outside world getting to them from elementary thru high school. I remember speaking to a teacher who had taught in Namibia and the states, and said that Namibian kids learnt far more about the world than their US counterparts.
One issue that concerns me and others that have kids in the states is the quality of education in America today and the mis-education that occurs due to some misplaced notion of treating education as if it were a business. More parents push kids to cram to pass exams nowadays but such does not make for a qualitative educational experience.
The book The Case Against Homework reminds me so much of the worries and pressures that so many kids face, here in Korea, but this book focuses upon the educational abuses that occur in America, thus it seems that America is definitely heading down the same slippery slope of testing and exam cramming that is endemic here in Korea and other places. The book interviews kids and parents to support its thesis that giving too much homework — without a pedagogical plan — is a bad thing to do to kids and their parents.
Here is one quote from a review of the book:
One thing the authors keep coming back to is the way that excessive homework eats into kids’ playtime and family time, stressing them out, contributing to sedentary obesity, and depriving them of a childhood’s measure of doing nothing, daydreaming and thinking. They quote ten-year-olds like Sophia from Brooklyn, saying things like “I have to rush, rush, rush, rush, rush, rush through my day, actually through my seven days, and that’s seven days wasted in my life.”
I can bet money that Miss South Carolina was one heck of an exam cooker, but her inability to clearly articulate some kind of intelligent comment demonstrates how shallow that learning experience has become in many places in the U.S.
Well, you could make the argument that as the US is currently in power, they just don’t give a damn about the rest of the world. Given the media in North America is it any wonder they look upon great swathes of the outside world as places where celebrities go to buy poor children for their collections, after some sort of terrible natural disaster? Or, alternatively, where their heroic soldiers are deployed defending US interests/world peace? Pretty girl though.
I remember speaking to a teacher who had taught in Namibia and the states, and said that Namibian kids learnt far more about the world than their US counterparts.
For what it’s worth, I was reminded of my own PhD oral exam where, after nailing the first two questions with total aplomb, I suddenly became freaked out at the thought of having 5 of my professors staring at me and passing judgement on me, and became completely incapable of uttering a complete sentence for about 15-30 seconds, let alone answering a question articulately or even correctly. Total out of body experience. (I recovered from the sudden spazz, but that 15-30 seconds still is one of the most painful memories of my life…). The gibberish she spouted doesn’t necessarily have a lot to do with what she knows.
First, not ALL schools teach only US history. I learned world history, ancient history, Canadian history, African history, and Indian (as in India) history IN HIGH SCHOOL I also learned world geography, had to locate and write in the capitals for every country on the globe. Now I realize I am “Old” and perhaps things have changed, however, my son, who is not old, also learned all these things….. So, I don’t know where some of you went to school, but I would recommend not making generalization about the US public school system.
As for Miss SC.: She is an embarressment to the rest of us natural blondes.
Although the thought of enjoying entertaining physical activities with the dumb and beautiful is alluring, the thought of mixing chromosomes and bringing forth dumb kids into this world is not.
Since we are on the subject of what folks study I would like to point out that while most folks in the world have to study naional and world history, North Carolinians have to study national, world and state history. I assume it is the same in other states.
Some strong opinions about US education on this thread. How many of you folks have spent a significant amount of time in an American classroom during the last five years?
I teach in a Title I school, a federal designation for schools with a high population of low SES students. A typical classroom contains at least one physically disabled child, sometimes an autistic child, 4-5 Special Ed. students with learning or behavioral difficulties, and 4-5 limited English proficiency students. Our Hispanic population is growing exponentially and our kinder and first grades are about 35-40% limited English. The citywide Pre-K program has reached 50%, and teachers there have commented that now there aren’t enough good language models to help the non-English speakers develop oral language.
My school will probably get a warning from the US Dept. of Ed. because we didn’t meet the minimum passing rate of 73% for the English Language Arts portion of the annual achievement test. One reason is that for the first time, any LEP kid who’s been in the US for more than a year was forced to take the English test along with the math test. There is a plain English math version for lower level LEP students. It measures the same standards as the regular test, but as the name suggests, the test uses simplified English. There is no “plain English English.” Not surprisingly, all but one of my LEP students passed the math. All failed the English.
And there’s the punchline: by 2014, 100% of students must pass these annual tests. That includes the Mixteco-speaking 10-year-old kid who arrived two years ago from the mountains of Mexico with 1st grade literacy skills in Spanish. That includes the kid with a brain disease who does NOT qualify for special education. That includes the fifth grade girl with seriously disturbing behavioral issues possibly stemming from spending nine months in the womb of a drug-addicted mother. By 2014, every child will pass those achievement tests. Good luck with that.
All states teach state history and geography, usually as a year-long subject in one of the elementary school grades. It is most common to do the year-long focus on state heritage in the fourth grade. Fifth grade is US history, and the K-3, rather than focusing on history or a particular political entity, get a foundation of social studies concepts and skills like people and places in a community, trade and money, and map reading.
Have you seen many of the maps used in Korea to give “directions” - you know, the ones that follow no known convention regarding orienatation regarding the four cardinal points of the compass.
Would we watch American movies, TV and even CNN (US version) if everyone we were looking at weren’t so smoking hot?
I would think the answer is no, because when I compare them to things British, I see actors and anchors of average ugliness, but supported by plotlines, scripts and journalistic skills that more than make up for it.
#10: “…Namibian kids learnt far more about the world than their US counterparts.
Why? your guess is as good as mine.”
It’s because they have to. Americans don’t.
Actually, I had Western Civ in high school, and I suspect before everything went PC against dead white males most Americans learned about Greek philosophers on up. I’ve got no idea if they teach that now, though.
I think everyone can identify with having a brain fart. What was astounding was the sheer length of her agony. If that was a brain fart, she must have the brain of a whale.
Incidentally, I know I’m not the only one who was reminded of the school principal in Billy Madison:
“What you’ve just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.”
Young Girl, possibly first time on TV, answering a stupid question. Give her a break.
Good answers would have been:
I don’t know,
People who can’t recognize a map of their own country are dumb,
The survey was crap,
Maybe lots of people are visually impaired.
Truthful answers but not politically correct, so she has to say some bullcrap gobbeldygook.
The real dummy was the person who came up with the question
“when I compare them to things British, I see actors and anchors of average ugliness, but supported by plotlines, scripts and journalistic skills that more than make up for it.”
It’s obvious you haven’t actually lived in the UK for any substantial period of time then; British TV, when it isn’t pandering to the lowest common denominator with rubbish like “Big Brother”, is on the whole about as interesting as watching paint dry. There’s a reason American imports do so well over here …
#35 - Not to mention Yuengling Traditional Lager (a/k/a the nectar of the gods), proudly brewed by America’s Oldest Brewery in Pottsville, Pennsylvania—coal cracker country, and nowhere near the Northwest.
I once was paralyzed by a bottle of Chimay. I did it on an empty stomach. I remember my phone ringing and then the answering machine coming on. Someone was saying, “Lewis, are you there?” From the sofa I could only moan, “Help me”.
It is the best I’ve ever had but now I never drink it without eating first. Twenty-two ounces, corked and unfiltered. Holy Trappist Brothers!
#46, I remember drinking two Chimay “bleu” in a row, and having difficulties, despite all the training I’ve had while living there, getting up from my seat. That beer is powerful stuff, and a godsend, literally…
dda, Mail me some Chimay and I will gladly commune with your muse, or better yet, mail some to Miss South Carolina and she will have a much better excuse for firing blanks in a war zone.
I am flying to France tomorrow, and I wish I could indulge. Alas I am on a strict no-booze diet, so I’ll just wave at the bootles, and tell them R. Elgin said hi
[...] other ASU news, Caitlin Upton, of Miss Teen USA brain fart fame, will be doing her undergrad work at our fine school: [W]ord via “The Today Show” [...]
51 Comments
Proof that the years spent by the NEA (National Education Association), dumbing down educational standards has resulted this sort of ineptitude, but with a high GPA.
No child is left behind because they have maps.
I dunno. I know the clip plays into every dumb blonde stereotype ever - and that’s why it’s getting such coverage on You Tube and even CNN. It lets us ugly people feel superior.
But I also know that when you’re put on the spot under bright lights and you’re obviously shaking nervous, your IQ drops 40 points. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s far more intelligent than this 20 second clip of a very bad night for her would otherwise indicate.
Besides, she’s right. People - Americans included - should look at maps more often. Couldn’t hurt. I’ve heard dumber from the President. And Marmot commenters.
I second what Rambutan wrote. I’ve walked out of a few high pressure situations laughing at my own answers to what were not difficult questions.
And maps do tend to help. I remember having one up on the wall close to the TV in my old apartment and the nightly news making a bit more sense.
I’m not buying #2 & #3. She isn’t a n00b on the stage.
She’s so awful and inarticulate I thought it was a goof.
It isn’t.
Chalk it up to grade inflation and the dumbing down of standards.
So an inarticulate beauty pageant contestant is better proof than an inarticulate sitting US President? At least she didn’t say she was working hard to harm America, like President Bush did.
Agree w/ #1 and #4.
I’ve interviewed and read resumes of college grads from state schools and lower University of California schools (Riverside and Santa Cruz, for example) where it boggles my mind that they passed English 101.
Well, for what it’s worth, here’s what she has to say for herself:
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/s.....57350.html
Ehn, this pageant is just her killing time until she becomes a trophy wife. There’s nothing that can derail this inevitable future.
That kind of depends. On whether America’s future will be determined by its knowledge of geographical trivia. Or people who are as glib as actors in movies. I personally think that people who as smooth as Mao Zedong or Josef Stalin aren’t necessarily an asset to their respective countries.
Look, the poor girl is shitting herself, if you asked her the question by herself she’s obviously be able to articulate a better answer.
The fact is, americans don’t learn about the rest of the world at school. history is american history. geography is american geography. most kids from other OECD countries learn about ancient greece/rome and all the rest, and study the world map.
Americans are ignorant, not because they’re stupid - they’re not, far from it - but because there is a severe defecit of information about the outside world getting to them from elementary thru high school. I remember speaking to a teacher who had taught in Namibia and the states, and said that Namibian kids learnt far more about the world than their US counterparts.
Why? your guess is as good as mine.
One issue that concerns me and others that have kids in the states is the quality of education in America today and the mis-education that occurs due to some misplaced notion of treating education as if it were a business. More parents push kids to cram to pass exams nowadays but such does not make for a qualitative educational experience.
The book The Case Against Homework reminds me so much of the worries and pressures that so many kids face, here in Korea, but this book focuses upon the educational abuses that occur in America, thus it seems that America is definitely heading down the same slippery slope of testing and exam cramming that is endemic here in Korea and other places. The book interviews kids and parents to support its thesis that giving too much homework — without a pedagogical plan — is a bad thing to do to kids and their parents.
Here is one quote from a review of the book:
I can bet money that Miss South Carolina was one heck of an exam cooker, but her inability to clearly articulate some kind of intelligent comment demonstrates how shallow that learning experience has become in many places in the U.S.
Well, you could make the argument that as the US is currently in power, they just don’t give a damn about the rest of the world. Given the media in North America is it any wonder they look upon great swathes of the outside world as places where celebrities go to buy poor children for their collections, after some sort of terrible natural disaster? Or, alternatively, where their heroic soldiers are deployed defending US interests/world peace? Pretty girl though.
Do you really want to live in a world without blonde bimbos with southern accents serving as fodder for jokes?
Is that any worse than PhDs from SNU telling us that a fan in a closed room could kill?
I remember speaking to a teacher who had taught in Namibia and the states, and said that Namibian kids learnt far more about the world than their US counterparts.
Namibia? Where’s that at?
“Where’s that?” is correct (and sufficient). Hanging a preposition on the end is superfluous plus it draws out the sharpshooters.
For what it’s worth, I was reminded of my own PhD oral exam where, after nailing the first two questions with total aplomb, I suddenly became freaked out at the thought of having 5 of my professors staring at me and passing judgement on me, and became completely incapable of uttering a complete sentence for about 15-30 seconds, let alone answering a question articulately or even correctly. Total out of body experience. (I recovered from the sudden spazz, but that 15-30 seconds still is one of the most painful memories of my life…). The gibberish she spouted doesn’t necessarily have a lot to do with what she knows.
First, not ALL schools teach only US history. I learned world history, ancient history, Canadian history, African history, and Indian (as in India) history IN HIGH SCHOOL I also learned world geography, had to locate and write in the capitals for every country on the globe. Now I realize I am “Old” and perhaps things have changed, however, my son, who is not old, also learned all these things….. So, I don’t know where some of you went to school, but I would recommend not making generalization about the US public school system.
As for Miss SC.: She is an embarressment to the rest of us natural blondes.
Oh, and I forgot to mention, I also learned US history….
While smart and beautiful is surely alluring, dumb and beautiful has its own unique charms as well. I for one welcome our blonde overlords.
Although the thought of enjoying entertaining physical activities with the dumb and beautiful is alluring, the thought of mixing chromosomes and bringing forth dumb kids into this world is not.
Since we are on the subject of what folks study I would like to point out that while most folks in the world have to study naional and world history, North Carolinians have to study national, world and state history. I assume it is the same in other states.
Some strong opinions about US education on this thread. How many of you folks have spent a significant amount of time in an American classroom during the last five years?
I teach in a Title I school, a federal designation for schools with a high population of low SES students. A typical classroom contains at least one physically disabled child, sometimes an autistic child, 4-5 Special Ed. students with learning or behavioral difficulties, and 4-5 limited English proficiency students. Our Hispanic population is growing exponentially and our kinder and first grades are about 35-40% limited English. The citywide Pre-K program has reached 50%, and teachers there have commented that now there aren’t enough good language models to help the non-English speakers develop oral language.
My school will probably get a warning from the US Dept. of Ed. because we didn’t meet the minimum passing rate of 73% for the English Language Arts portion of the annual achievement test. One reason is that for the first time, any LEP kid who’s been in the US for more than a year was forced to take the English test along with the math test. There is a plain English math version for lower level LEP students. It measures the same standards as the regular test, but as the name suggests, the test uses simplified English. There is no “plain English English.” Not surprisingly, all but one of my LEP students passed the math. All failed the English.
And there’s the punchline: by 2014, 100% of students must pass these annual tests. That includes the Mixteco-speaking 10-year-old kid who arrived two years ago from the mountains of Mexico with 1st grade literacy skills in Spanish. That includes the kid with a brain disease who does NOT qualify for special education. That includes the fifth grade girl with seriously disturbing behavioral issues possibly stemming from spending nine months in the womb of a drug-addicted mother. By 2014, every child will pass those achievement tests. Good luck with that.
@#22 RE: history curriculum
All states teach state history and geography, usually as a year-long subject in one of the elementary school grades. It is most common to do the year-long focus on state heritage in the fourth grade. Fifth grade is US history, and the K-3, rather than focusing on history or a particular political entity, get a foundation of social studies concepts and skills like people and places in a community, trade and money, and map reading.
My world for a map to the next “Toastmasters” meeting.
Have you seen many of the maps used in Korea to give “directions” - you know, the ones that follow no known convention regarding orienatation regarding the four cardinal points of the compass.
It’s only interesting because she’s beautiful.
Would we watch American movies, TV and even CNN (US version) if everyone we were looking at weren’t so smoking hot?
I would think the answer is no, because when I compare them to things British, I see actors and anchors of average ugliness, but supported by plotlines, scripts and journalistic skills that more than make up for it.
What, am I the only one that can identify with this hottie’s brain fart?
Sperwer, I think South Korea is exporting those signs to Vietnam !
I think those signs make sense.
Go straight. Head back. Go left, Go right.
This sort of Koreanism should be exported to the United States.
#10: “…Namibian kids learnt far more about the world than their US counterparts.
Why? your guess is as good as mine.”
It’s because they have to. Americans don’t.
Actually, I had Western Civ in high school, and I suspect before everything went PC against dead white males most Americans learned about Greek philosophers on up. I’ve got no idea if they teach that now, though.
#28 - a-letheia,
I think everyone can identify with having a brain fart. What was astounding was the sheer length of her agony. If that was a brain fart, she must have the brain of a whale.
Incidentally, I know I’m not the only one who was reminded of the school principal in Billy Madison:
“What you’ve just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.”
Young Girl, possibly first time on TV, answering a stupid question. Give her a break.
Good answers would have been:
I don’t know,
People who can’t recognize a map of their own country are dumb,
The survey was crap,
Maybe lots of people are visually impaired.
Truthful answers but not politically correct, so she has to say some bullcrap gobbeldygook.
The real dummy was the person who came up with the question
“when I compare them to things British, I see actors and anchors of average ugliness, but supported by plotlines, scripts and journalistic skills that more than make up for it.”
It’s obvious you haven’t actually lived in the UK for any substantial period of time then; British TV, when it isn’t pandering to the lowest common denominator with rubbish like “Big Brother”, is on the whole about as interesting as watching paint dry. There’s a reason American imports do so well over here …
Namibia produces much better beer than the US, too.
I can’t help but think there’s a connection.
The many fine microbrews found throughout America’s Northwest stand in testament to the region’s craft. Careful where you sling that mud, Robert.
“…found throughout America’s Northwest…”
It’s map buying time!
#35 - Not to mention Yuengling Traditional Lager (a/k/a the nectar of the gods), proudly brewed by America’s Oldest Brewery in Pottsville, Pennsylvania—coal cracker country, and nowhere near the Northwest.
Mmmm, lager…
Dudes, beer’s Belgian or is not…
That’s a little narrow, dda… but there’s no denying the truly divine work of the Cistercian Trappist monks of the Abbey of Notre Dame de Scourmont.
Let all the individuals who have been on live TV at age 18, answering questions, cast the first stones.
#5
‘At least she didn’t say she was working hard to harm America, like President Bush did.’
Funny, always had difficulty buying into the Commander-and Chief’s integrity. Maybe I’ve been a bit too harsh.
I used to live 5 km from Chimay. My views on the subject of beer may have been skewed
She asked for it. She doesn’t want to do such blunders, she should stay away from the scene…
Well, Miss Upton got a second chance. Here it is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYUA8Bulrmg
Been there, done that, AFChief, though it was taped and not live. She gets no sympathy from me.
I once was paralyzed by a bottle of Chimay. I did it on an empty stomach. I remember my phone ringing and then the answering machine coming on. Someone was saying, “Lewis, are you there?” From the sofa I could only moan, “Help me”.
It is the best I’ve ever had but now I never drink it without eating first. Twenty-two ounces, corked and unfiltered. Holy Trappist Brothers!
#46 - If you’re looking for a beer to drink on an empty stomach, I suggest Samuel Smith’s Oatmeal Stout. It’s a meal in a bottle.
#46, I remember drinking two Chimay “bleu” in a row, and having difficulties, despite all the training I’ve had while living there, getting up from my seat. That beer is powerful stuff, and a godsend, literally…
dda, Mail me some Chimay and I will gladly commune with your muse, or better yet, mail some to Miss South Carolina and she will have a much better excuse for firing blanks in a war zone.
I am flying to France tomorrow, and I wish I could indulge. Alas I am on a strict no-booze diet, so I’ll just wave at the bootles, and tell them R. Elgin said hi
Wow. One fifth of American students can’t locate their own country on a world map? That’s seriously worrying.
And what does Asia gotta do with American students being stupid/ignorant?
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[...] other ASU news, Caitlin Upton, of Miss Teen USA brain fart fame, will be doing her undergrad work at our fine school: [W]ord via “The Today Show” [...]