Why We Need a Gap Year

Wednesday May 3, 2006

National Geographic recently released a poll of Americans 18-24 from which it can be concluded that some US students are geographically impaired. And USA Today yesterday cited a study by the AAA Travel Challenge, which is a geography/travel contest for high school students, showing that most 12-17 year-olds surveyed can't find the Louvre. Knowing in which city fo find the famous museum is one of the many reasons a gap year should become accepted practice among parents and in US education circles. That and the cheap beer in Germany.

Seriously, we seem to be seriously remiss in our world geography knowledge in the US of A, including our grasp of the layout of the land in our own country (it can be concluded from the USA Today coverage of the AAA study that students know where the Big Easy is but could care less about Biloxi, for instance). After the Nat Geo survey results became public, lots o' bloggers and columnists are hastening to point out that students can't find individual Middle East countries with which we've been to war (quick: name countries bordering Iraq), but the Louvre? Anyone who's been to Paris can find it, even if just to then locate the nearby Paris Beach. Right?

Ah. Therein lies the rub... to point to the Louvre on a map, it helps to have been to Paris. And, sadly, many US students have not, although it's a basic stop on any European trip, because perhaps US citizens don't go on European trips until they're too old for the free Friday nights at the Louvre (18-26 year-olds free from 6:00-9:45, in case you're wondering), if ever -- some say up to 73 percent of US citizens don't have passports.

UK students, on the other hand, hit the road to Europe running right after finishing secondary school -- it's called a gap year, and means a year of traveling or life without school before or after college. You may have noticed that you're being pressured to choose a college, even if you're a high school freshman, and that it's expected that you'll rush right to campus in September following high school graduation. And after you graduate from college, it's implied that you'll go straight to work for the rest of your young-enough-to-travel life.

UK travel writer Ferne Arfin responded to a recent flap in Florida (caused when school officials refused to allow a school trip to London after citing fears of terrorism abroad) by detailing the pluses of student travel, and pointed out that UK 18-19 year-olds are generally quite mature when compared to older US students; she credits gap year travel. They can probably tell you in which city the Louvre is found, too. And we don't have a gap year why, again?

I don't know, but I wish we did. Until gap year travel becomes accepted in the US, you'll just have to buck the status quo and go. Even if it's just to Biloxi. And if you're one of the folks bemoaning poor geography knowledge in US students, get involved, or step up and sponsor a trip.