NationStates Jolt Archive

I read massive amounts of books so I'm not sure wether this is all right or not. Being a history/politics buff I'm not sure wether I should have expected this or not, but in my 8th grade class, there are only 5 people out of 42, who can explain what the Cold War was. Should they have known this by 8th grade? Also, in our local high school, they were teaching the difference between Democrats and Republicans to the senioe class! Should they have known that by now. To my group of friends and I, this is sort of scary.

I read massive amounts of books so I'm not sure wether this is all right or not. Being a history/politics buff I'm not sure wether I should have expected this or not, but in my 8th grade class, there are only 5 people out of 42, who can explain what the Cold War was. Should they have known this by 8th grade? Also, in our local high school, they were teaching the difference between Democrats and Republicans to the senioe class! Should they have known that by now. To my group of friends and I, this is sort of scary.Normally, students learn about the cold war in 10th and 11th grades.

dont you hate it when the people who are smarter than you know that and think they are better than you for it?

I read massive amounts of books so I'm not sure wether this is all right or not. Being a history/politics buff I'm not sure wether I should have expected this or not, but in my 8th grade class, there are only 5 people out of 42, who can explain what the Cold War was. Should they have known this by 8th grade? Also, in our local high school, they were teaching the difference between Democrats and Republicans to the senioe class! Should they have known that by now. To my group of friends and I, this is sort of scary.
I'm in 8th grade
We have roughly the same class size

I think around 10-15 kids can almost accuratly say what the Cold War was, "The U.S. and Russia being...really cold to each other."

Yeah...okay maybe not that accurate
And no, I still barely understand the differences between Democrats and Republicans in 8th grade. I don't expect my peers to understand that much until 10th-12th


Then again, I may just be thinking of my class as brainless slugs. But that's just me

I knew about the Cold War before I was done elementary school.

dont you hate it when the people who are smarter than you know that and think they are better than you for it?

elaborate

I knew about the Cold War before I was done elementary school.

about the same here

dont you hate it when the people who are smarter than you know that and think they are better than you for it?

elaborate

I reckon he's talkin' about you mate.

I would say, if you find some academic niche for yourself, which you can delve into for your own satisfaction, explore it. It doesn't matter if no-one will ever have a clue, or if you never have to take a serious exam in it or use it in life, there is no harm in knowing more than the average person about something specific.

My friend and I are trying to compile colossal amounts of financial, historical and geopolitical data and combine it with social sciences to predict changes in governmental relationships and other social trends. There is a use for all information.

There's nothing wrong with being an elitist. If you are smarter than other people, flaunt it, exploit it, use it to your advantage. If they can't catch up to you, they deserve to be left behind.

The difference between Republicans and Democrats? There is none. Well, Republicans will lower taxes (a positive) but give you a bunch of patriotic, flag-waving, God-loving bs, and the Democrats won't give you such nefarious acts but will tax you more because of a belief that more government is good (a stupid idea). The least government governs most.

About learning of the Cold War. I'm a college senior and while I know what it was, I still want to know why it happened. It seemed rather idiotic to me, especially when you look at what Communism is founded on and how anti-human nature it is. I don't blame anyone younger than me for not knowing full details about the Cold War. It ended when I was a boy myself. I would however hope that they know something about other topics. Perhaps not war or politics, but perhaps other events in history, perhaps math or science. Heck, I dunno. I wouldn't hold it against your classmates, but then again, they could be stupid and you have to endure them like I did/do.

they should know what the cold war is... that is, if you are russian or american.
its a massive part of our history, for a long time... and they should at least have a basic idea of what it was. i dont even know the intracacies of it, but i do know the basic idea.
and it wasnt long ago, at all.
:?
oh well

I've known the basics of what the Cold War was for as long as I can remember. I don't think there is anything wrong with this.

I read massive amounts of books so I'm not sure wether this is all right or not. Being a history/politics buff I'm not sure wether I should have expected this or not, but in my 8th grade class, there are only 5 people out of 42, who can explain what the Cold War was. Should they have known this by 8th grade? Also, in our local high school, they were teaching the difference between Democrats and Republicans to the senioe class! Should they have known that by now. To my group of friends and I, this is sort of scary.

Were most of your classmates born in the 80's or at least pre-1992? Because if not, I can see how they may not know what it is, like the major events, and stuff, but they should at least know who was involved and why. If they were born in the 80's, they /should/ know what it is, since they grew up in it. A little warning- if you're already this freaked out by their stupidity, go for the AP or Honors program when you hit high school. People get really stupid when they turn 15.

they should know what the cold war is... that is, if you are russian or american.
its a massive part of our history, for a long time... and they should at least have a basic idea of what it was. i dont even know the intracacies of it, but i do know the basic idea.
and it wasnt long ago, at all.
:?
oh well

You were alive for it, tho, weren't you? I think with middle and junior high kids, you have the problem that if they weren't alive then, they don't care.

If you have 42 people in your class in year 8, than that shows your education system is a little unhealthy...

Don't expect anyone to know much about the cold war other than that it was a (mostly) non-war conflict between "evil," communist USSR, and the "good" USA prior to college. Expect only that they realize that cumminism is bad, and anti-human nature, and capitalism is good and will solve all the world's problems. Of course, none of this is true, but truth hardly matters in the U.S. educational system. And to those of you who would relpy that communism truly is in conflict with human nature, don't bother, until you do a tremendous amount of research into human psychology, sociology, biology, anthropology, and philosophy.

I read massive amounts of books so I'm not sure wether this is all right or not. Being a history/politics buff I'm not sure wether I should have expected this or not, but in my 8th grade class, there are only 5 people out of 42, who can explain what the Cold War was. Should they have known this by 8th grade? Also, in our local high school, they were teaching the difference between Democrats and Republicans to the senioe class! Should they have known that by now. To my group of friends and I, this is sort of scary.

I knew all about the cold war before I was 10... But then again I read books... Lots of books... I have probably 500-600 books in my house... Of which probably 300-350 are mine... I just loved to read...

they should know what the cold war is... that is, if you are russian or american.
its a massive part of our history, for a long time... and they should at least have a basic idea of what it was. i dont even know the intracacies of it, but i do know the basic idea.
and it wasnt long ago, at all.
:?
oh well
Or Lativian, Lithuanian, Kyrgistani, Kazakhstani, Afghani, etc. etc. etc. (yes, yes, I horribly mangled the name of your country, feel free to swich a few letters in the name of mine, or possibly to mispell/not capitolize the name of our Preisdent.)
But they dont really count do they? What with their being ignorant zealots and/or barbarians ;)

Nevermind...

Anyway, kids should at least be told WHAT the Cold War was, I mean, yes, third graders might not understand it, but Im sure a fifth or sixth grader could grasp the concept of politics to a degree, likely better than most politicians.
Yeah...I KNEW about the Cold War once I heard a teacher talking about something called the Soyvet Onion, and how it fell over. That was in the third grade (1993, or thereabouts) Of course, I didnt understand a bit of it, but by about the sixth grade I had a fair grasp of the events, since most of our school library was from between 1960-85, including 'The Modern Encyclopedia of Soviet Military Equipment', and the 1943 Grass Almanac, and a very informative copy of 'The Crusades', first printed in 1895.
But it doesnt matter. Theres still people who think The Holocaust never happened, as well as the Moon Conspiracy people. They both have websites which Im sure you'll find very entertaining, just type 'Conspiracy' into Google.

I read massive amounts of books so I'm not sure wether this is all right or not. Being a history/politics buff I'm not sure wether I should have expected this or not, but in my 8th grade class, there are only 5 people out of 42, who can explain what the Cold War was. Should they have known this by 8th grade? Also, in our local high school, they were teaching the difference between Democrats and Republicans to the senioe class! Should they have known that by now. To my group of friends and I, this is sort of scary.

I'm a junior in H.S., and I think myself an intelligent person, but I severly doubt that I knew what the cold war was in eighth grade, much less the difference between WWI and WWII. I wouldn't worry about it, you prorbably are just more naturally curious/intellectually mature than your classmates. I like history/politics now (why else would I be on this forum), and I believe it took introduction to the topic by teachers and through textbooks to spark my interest. As for the difference between D and R, the seniors recieving that instruction are probably not the cream of the crop, if you get my drift. Many a intelligent high schooler pays attention to current events and is well aware of the differences that xist between the two parties of our nation.

I read massive amounts of books so I'm not sure wether this is all right or not. Being a history/politics buff I'm not sure wether I should have expected this or not, but in my 8th grade class, there are only 5 people out of 42, who can explain what the Cold War was. Should they have known this by 8th grade? Also, in our local high school, they were teaching the difference between Democrats and Republicans to the senioe class! Should they have known that by now. To my group of friends and I, this is sort of scary.

I think they should have a general idea of what the Cold War was by then. I am not talking about specifics, just that it was the Soviets against the US (in general). And the war was not hot, hence the name "Cold" War.

I read massive amounts of books so I'm not sure wether this is all right or not. Being a history/politics buff I'm not sure wether I should have expected this or not, but in my 8th grade class, there are only 5 people out of 42, who can explain what the Cold War was. Should they have known this by 8th grade? Also, in our local high school, they were teaching the difference between Democrats and Republicans to the senioe class! Should they have known that by now. To my group of friends and I, this is sort of scary.
it's like that every where! and it's not that people are stupid! it's just that they don't care. that's the scary part.

I think they should have a general idea of what the Cold War was by then. I am not talking about specifics, just that it was the Soviets against the US (in general). And the war was not hot, hence the name "Cold" War.

I think it is a waste of third through 7th graders education time to teach them about a subject that (a) has no bearing in their life and (b) they will have to study again in HS to gain the level of understanding that is necissary for knowledge of the cold war to be applicable.

I don't know if "healthy" is the right word to describe not knowing history.

Americans are commonly known to not know their own history, so, not knowing about the Cold War by the 8th grade doesn't surprise me. It saddens me, yes, because history is important to know especially of your own country.

I, personally, knew of the Cold War, Vietnam, Korea, WW I & II, and other wars by that time.

I read massive amounts of books so I'm not sure wether this is all right or not. Being a history/politics buff I'm not sure wether I should have expected this or not, but in my 8th grade class, there are only 5 people out of 42, who can explain what the Cold War was. Should they have known this by 8th grade? Also, in our local high school, they were teaching the difference between Democrats and Republicans to the senioe class! Should they have known that by now. To my group of friends and I, this is sort of scary.
it's like that every where! and it's not that people are stupid! it's just that they don't care. that's the scary part.

I'm in the 9th Grade and we just studied the Cold War in detail this year in Canada. But I had the basic ideas on what the Cold War was before Grade 8.
My classmates despise Social History. They say, "Oh my god. Why do we have to learn about the things that happened like, a hundred years ago? People should get over it!" This pretty much tells you how smart they are. :?

I totally agree. As far as my character development goes, one of the most useful subjects I ever studied at school was 19th Century British Political History. I only infrequently need to call upon my already fading memory of it, and by the time I reach 30, it will have passed into the mists of time. But the usefulness of something like that is the broadening of the mind that occurs. That proves far more enduring. It does not matter what part of the world's history you study (except for WW2*), all of it gives you the opportunity to draw parallels, to see the wider context, the bigger picture behind things.

*Study of WW2 is an exception to the rule, as it is distorted by so much myth and propaganda that unless one is really open-minded, little can be learnt from it.