To be concerned about education when

[careeristbitchnigel]

The 18 year old i'm working with (english)

• could not tell me the name of the Queen
• did not know that the UK was an island
• did mot know that London is our capital city

My colleague and i were literally

I presume this girl has/had parents/guardians/caregivers at some point in her life? Why blame education?

I'm a teacher and I've never met a child in secondary school who didn't know these things. I feel it may be a one off. And yes, I agree with Pans, those things should come up at home, surely? Why blame education? It's not like they are rocket science and need massive explanation . If his/her parents had occasionally put the news on she would know...

That's stuff you should know just by being alive, not stuff that is or should be on the curriculum. The UK isn't an island though, so I'd let that one slide.

really an 18yr old doesn't know we live on an island and yes the parents are also to blame or mum who is that old lady on tv why that is the queen why blame schools

well i am assuming the op is meaning Great Britain if not then

In this day and age there is no excuse for that level of ignorance.

Maybe the 18yr old isn't very bright? I work with adults twice her ago who are really quite dim about that sort of thing. They don't watch the news/read papers etc and they just don't take it in when they do see/hear it.

Were they perhaps winding up the old lady

i am not very bright but i knew who the queen was at 18 and we were surrounded by water

The UK is not actually an island is it? I know I am being pedantic but if you start a thread about how stupid someone is you probably should get your facts right...

yeah i know

And use a capital I for the first person singular

oh now we are just splitting hairs

I'd blame the parents rather than education.

These are surely all things your dc would know through doing jigsaws and looking at books etc before school - it's not the Education system, it's the rest of her upbringing that you'd have to question, if you want to judge on those facts / lack of knowledge.

TBF a lot of young people girls especially know more about kim kardashian than the queen quite sad really

Though your "facts" are common knowledge, they aren't technically correct. The UK isn't an island and it has more than one capital city. Maybe she was just intimidated by you and fearful of answering in case you were trying to trick her.

The title just said "education" not "what happens in schools".

I don't think education is solely a thing for school;, and yes, if this teenager was not teasing you, there are major gaps in her education.

But I think this level of ignorance is highly unusual.

(At least I hope it is, but I'd have thought any DC above primary age - or perhaps even younger - in 2012 ought to have picked up the basics about the monarchy).

DS2 (12):
"Elizabeth"
"The whole of one big island, part of a smaller island, and a few tiny ones"
"London is the capital of England. Cardiff is the capital of Wales. Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland. Dublin is the capital of Northern Ireland."

Off to educate my children in the geography of the British Isles, especially Ireland.

London is the capital city of the UK, the girl sounds as thick as mince. Assuming she is NT, both her parents and school are to blame.

Yes because one single person is representative of the whole education system.

This thread is going to be the one that keeps on giving, isn't it?

UK stands for United Kingdom. Full title: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Great Britain is the big landmass. It contains three countries England (capital: London), Wales (capital: Cardiff) and Scotland (capital: Edinburgh). The fourth country is Northern Ireland (capital: Belfast).

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom

Yes and lond

Wtf? London is both the capital of England AND the UK as a whole.

But how did it come up? Were you quizzing her hoping to catch her out?