Our deputy head carried out an experiment today to try to prove her thoery that the average 15/16 year old doesn't read the papers, don't know about current affairs and are generally quite ignorant about literature. I'd always disputed this as I felt that most of my friends at least will have a fairly good dusting of general knowledge.
I was suprised, therefore to find that most didn't know most of the names of the leaders of France, Germany, China, Russia and Afganistan, didn't know who the IRA are, and responses to what I thought are well known pieces of literature such as Paradise Lost and Beowolf were met with either blank stares or a confused 'Huh? Beowhat?' and if I tried to explain one of the answers I was treated as some kinda freak!
Has anyone else had similar experiences when talking with people around my age(around 15/16)?
Maybe I'm just hopelessly out of touch and what I think should be common knowledge isn't?
