Buzz Lightyear was first man to walk on Moon?
One in five kids believe Buzz Lightyear was the first man to walk on the Moon and not Neil Armstrong.
12th October 2010
On the 7th October I read an article by the The Telegraph which reported some extremely worrying finding based upon a study of 2,000 schoolchildren in the United Kingdom. The study identified that many children believed that Buzz Lightyear was first man to walk on Moon. Last time I checked it as Neil Armstrong who first stepped off the LEM Eagle on the 20th July 1969 in the Sea of Tranquility.
However two thirds of the 6-12 year old's where able to correctly identified malaria as Cheryl Cole's illness and David Beckham as being the most recent player to be dropped by Fabio Capello. Don't worry everyone it's ok these children know why Cheryl Cole was ill!
For goodness sake, how useless is formal or informal education in the United Kingdom if children don't know that Neil Armstrong was the first man to walk on the Moon uttering the following famous phrase instead of, To Infinity and Beyond!
That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.
Quote 1: Neil Armstrong 21st July 1969, Credit Neil Armstrong.
Recently I wrote in my article, Bread and Circuses about my general disappointment in general public of the United Kingdom drawing parallels with ancient Roman's distracted by the Colosseum.
What I find abhorrent is the willingness of the public to mindlessly watch drivel. I am not saying everyone should be watching University Challenge, Only Connect, The West Wing or Mad Men. But I feel with television programmes like X Factor and Big Brother and the associated celebrity culture has caused our Nation to simply tread water mentally.
Quote 2: Bread and Circuses, Credit Matthew Wittering.
I think is clear in light of this study reported on my The Telegraph that celebrity culture which I have characterised as bread and circuses is eroding the cultural heritage of humanity. Surely we need to do something with education in the United Kingdom to abate and prevent ignorance. Consumers of new media should be focusing on real achievement not real news about so called celebrities, pop stars and athletes. Then it might be possible for the United Kingdoms children to correctly identify Neil Armstrong as the first man to walk on The Moon.
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