Does your adult DC in their 20's know about the Channel Islands?

[thelionscake]

I'm from Jersey and just wondered how much visibility the Islands have in the UK from younger people now. I was speaking to a young person recently from the UK who instantly thought about the state of New Jersey in the USA when I said the word "Jersey".

I knew when I was ten as we had a family holiday there.
I’m certain my own dds, 23 and 20, would have no clue. They and their friends struggled to name the prime minister a few months ago (Sunak) even when I gave them the first sound of his name, struggled to name which country Ukraine was at war with, basics like that. The other day I mentioned pensions and my youngest had clearly never heard of them.
They are adopted however and have a number of issues, struggled in school, haven’t got jobs etc. They’re very immature for their ages and don’t watch the news or take any interest in works events, history, geography etc despite my best efforts.
Thry could tell you about the ins and outs of I’m a Celebrity however…

My dd (16) definitely does.

Tbh I’d hope my 10 yo does!

I’m in my 40s and my knowledge of the Channel Islands is:

Nazi occupation in WWII
Bergerac
Corporate tax haven

My teens do. Maps. General knowledge. World War II.

My generation does due to Bergerac.

To be fair though they’re teeny tiny, and while they have some historical importance they’re not part of the UK. I don’t know all the main Scottish islands for example.

My children are fat from idiots but I'm not sure they'd know anything about the Channel Islands. Why would that be a marker of an idiot? It's not knowledge that is any kind of universal requirement

Yes, because we have family there and have visited several times.

DS (teenager) is quire into geography so, yes, he's aware of them! I was as a child too (40s now). We're also from another island group and learnt a little more about Jersey and Guernsey through hearing about the Island Games. I also remember Bergerac from my childhood and have watched some interesting documentaries about WW2 and the CI. Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark- I suspect folk know more about the bigger islands, but are there smaller ones too?.

They might not be able to name them all or find them on a map, but my teen dc are aware of them. My PiL used to go to jersey most years.

It's a reflection of the education system if they're not at least aware of them.

DD is 20 - I’d be concerned for any of her peers who don’t know that they exist! Basic geography. No excuse for ignorance these days when young people have the world at their fingertips via social media and the internet.

The early 2010s ‘Jersey - the warmest place in the British isles’ TV ad always prompted a few questions. I’ll ask her later on if she still remembers it! She has a close friend who often holidays in Sark so I’m sure that she’ll visit with her someday.

I'm in my forties and terrible at geography! I'll google after but
Channel Islands-
Jersey
Guernsey
Isle of Wight

Are there more?

Isle of Man
Isle of Skye
Orkney isles

My early teen DS does but he takes an interest in geography

No knowledge is a universal requirement. In reality though your children should be able to look at a map and identify the different parts of the nation..

Ok so I'd heard of Alderney but not sark or helm

I’m Scottish so I don’t know about the education system in England but I was never taught much about the basic make up of the UK, crown dependencies etc. I know it eventually comes basic facts for a lot of people just from living here but I do think children should be taught these things. I worked as a nanny in France and had to sit through lots of homework and their children are taught a lot about the French state that I never got the equivalent to here.

I live near St Ives... Cambridgeshire. Pain in the arse on the Met Office weather app.

That's an interesting question though, why ahould anyone be able to do that?

Other than knowledge for knowledge's sake why is that important? That's a genuine question as one could live a whole life without ever having heard of the Channel Islands, would that be somehow a bad thing?

To be honest when I moved from Scotland to England for university I was fairly amazed by how little people knew about Scotland so I can imagine it many know nothing about the Channel Islands.

The Isle of Wight isn't A Channel Island... the Channel Islands are a Crown Dependency rather than part of the UK. Isle of Wight is an island in the English Channel that is part of England.

I do a lot of work on Jersey (unfortunately delivered from London!) I was googling for some images the other day and the first run of hits were all New Jersey and jersey shore so it wouldn't surprise me if some people don't have much knowledge.

I'm Scottish and we have loads of islands, you'll be surprised how many when you Google! 😬

I recently went to jersey for work and loved it so took my daughter there for a mini break. I am keen to go to guernsey next

My 17 year old does but he's interested in geography not sure my 13 year old knows or cares. I definitely did in my early adulthood.

Yes we've holidayed a couple of times on Guernsey and visited Sark and Herme. I feel like Jersey gets quite a bit of mainstream TV advertising so I'm sure DD (13) would know it wasn't NJ. We also sail in the channel occasionally though so that probably leads to a bit more awareness.

I don't think they would think about the CI much from one day to the next though!

I think in all honesty it’s not on most kids radar. We just don’t hear about anything that goes on there.

That said my kids have been to guernsey once so they do know about the Channel Islands and very roughly where they are (I.e in the sea before you get to France is probably about as accurate as they could come up with)

as a child I def knew about them but I was slightly obsessed with maps.