Yikes! Stories like this show why we're in the shape we are as a country...

[mjr]

Poll: Many Teens Don't Know July 4 History

http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=92955

How one in four Americans don't know who their forefathers declared independence from

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...ence-1776.html

[Andara Bledin]

Meh. Numbers and dates like that are mostly meaningless.

If you know the general timeframe and the order in which events occurred, that should be more than enough.

Also, there are growing numbers of people who make a point of trolling phone surveys like that, so it's not like you can really trust the data.

[mathnerd]

I'm more worried that you dredged up articles that are so outdated. The ABC News link, while not dated with a year, refers to George W. Bush being president, which means it's at least 7 years old and the Daily Mail link is dated 2011, so three years old. A decent debate should start with recent data.

[Aragarthiel]

I was a straight-A student, graduated top of my class, and I even took an AP U.S. History class, and I still suck at history. I can never even remember the years when wars occurred, though I can generally figure out 1940's generally means WW2, 1860s is Civil War, etc. Most historical figures get mixed up for me though, if you ask me about any president that isn't George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, or one that's been in office in the last decade, I won't know what they did. History is just not my thing, and it never will be. I can easily remember, though, what Independence Day is for. That's one of those things that gets drilled into your head every year from kindergarten on.

I'm with Andara, those numbers likely can't be trusted.

[Gravekeeper]

I'm a little dubious about polling teenagers about a subject they are actively studying. Not because they are stupid. But because, having been a teenager once, I can honestly say I would have done everything in my power to escape being "polled" on my history class as fast as possible up to and including suggesting Canada won its independence from Norway. >.>

The second poll of adults is a bit more unsettling but it also has a problem: The polling methodology is telemarketing calls, basically. Specifically a combination of land lines and "random dialing" of cell phones. Yes, random dialing of cell phone numbers, that is the exact terminology the pollsters use in their explanation of the methodology. They used random dialing of cell phone numbers because they did not have an even regional balance of land line numbers available.

So the people answering these polls are A) Really bored, B) Annoyed or C) Trolling in response to getting a random telemarketing call on their cell. -.-

It makes for a catchy headline for older people to shake their heads at "kids these days" and lament about how the country is going to hell in a hand basket and nothing like this would have happened in their day. So, basically the same thing every generation has been saying about the next generation in the US for the last century.

Other than that though I don't think it proves much. Something like standardized test scores would be a better indicator than randomly polling teenagers.

[Rageaholic]

To add to what gravekeeper said, they also catch people off guard. It's not on heard of for your brain to shut down when put on the spot like that.

[wolfie]

I would have done everything in my power to escape being "polled" on my history class as fast as possible up to and including suggesting Canada won its independence from Norway.

There you go spreading B.S. - Norway was one of our allies in the revolution where we won our freedom from the Sweedish Empire. The turning point in the revolution was the long-range airstrike against Stckholm by a squadron of CF-105s ordered by Prime Minister Riel. Of course, no discussion of Canadian history is complete that doesn't mention the work of the Temperance leader John A. MacDonald.