Florida teacher cries in class because her 12th graders didn't know cardinal directions or the regions of the United States: 'They are so far behind, some can’t even spell simple words.'

Author image for Emmy Pratt
Emmy Pratt • Senior Editor
Sep 1, 2026 1:15 PM EDT

What should a teacher do in this situation?

A lot of kids lack basic knowledge they should've learned in Elementary school. When I was in elementary school, we had a whole unit on reading clocks, but now that kids only use their phones to tell time, some schools don't even bother, and the kids suffer for it. 

One teacher took to the internet to share her concerns about her 12th-grade students, who don't know North, South, East, and West, and don't care to put in the effort to learn them at this late stage.  

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  • 01
    A portrait of a young Geography teacher looking at camera in classroom
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    A frustrated high school geography teacher who cannot believe her students do not know the cardinal directions or the regions of the United States.

    Individual pictured is a model used for illustrative purposes.

  • 02

    I started to cry in class

    I started to cry in class because my 12th graders didn't know the cardinal directions or the regions of the USA. They never had to take a geography course and have no interest in looking at a map or copying it down when I went over it quickly. I
    via u/cappuccinofathe
  • 03
    tried not to cry but it made me tear up and the ones who were paying attention could hear it in my voice. It's so sad how we are failing these kids because some states deem it unnecessary to learn different subjects. THEY DONT KNOW THE DIRECTIONS!! THEY DONT
    via u/cappuccinofathe
  • 04

    Kids should at least know the basic geography of the country they live in. That used to be the bare minimum

    KNOW WHAT COAST THEY LIVE ON. THEY DONT UNDERSTAND WHAT REGIONS ARE. And when I take time out of the curriculum to go over it they don't even care enough to listen.
    via u/cappuccinofathe
  • 05

    How are kids like this going to be able to hold stable jobs? Will AI do everything for them in college and in the workforce?

    I'm the youngest teacher at my school these 12th graders are like 9-10 years younger than me. These are the students that will grow up and work in the same time as me. And they are so far behind, some can't even spell simple words. It's so sad.
    via u/cappuccinofathe
  • 06
    I wish the parent choice in Florida would mean that they choose geography and grammar to be a requirement
    via u/cappuccinofathe
  • 07
    Lightning_Eyk Had the same issue last year actually. Broke out some elementary worksheets on directions and when they pushed back that I was giving them "little kid work", I said then you should know more than little kids but you don't
    via u/Lightning_Eyk
  • 08

    What are teachers supposed to do when they don't have time to catch their students up to grade level? School administrators just want them to teach a more advanced curriculum when they haven't mastered the basics.

    cappuccinofathe OP I wish I had time in the curriculum to do this. Maybe I will find some and that will be our warm up and I'll make it a grade
    via u/cappuccinofathe
  • 09
    Lightning_Eyk Honestly it went quick enough, biggest difference ive seen is in repetition so make it a do now a few times a week and they'll get it.
    via u/Lightning_Eyk
  • 10

    Do you think that 12th graders would respond to this teaching method?

    YoMommaHere Whenever I have a class that's not interested in something, I turn it into an apocalyptic scenario. My dad was a "doomsday prepper" and he'd use that angle with me and i loved it and students do too. Tell them to pretend that all the power went out forever or that they survived a nuclear attack and there is a ship in Oregon that can take them to the last shelter on earth. How would they get there and what geographic obstacles could they face to help them prepare for the trip. Make it
    via u/YoMommaHere
  • 11
    FatRascal Honestly, half of this job is being a clown. Jingling keys for a failed generation.
    via u/FatRascal
  • 12
    ¡Slappada Bass Agreed, but if we don't at least jingle the keys, then our hope level goes from 15% to 0%
    via u/iSlappadaBas
  • 13

    Has students lack of interest in geography always been a problem, particularly in the United States?

    xtnh When I started teaching in NH 25 miles from the coast back in the 1980s I had kids who did not know what the body of water to our east was. But to be fair half my class had never seen the ocean. I had a roommate who grew up in Boston who had never seen a cow. And it is far worse now.
    via u/xtnh
  • 14
    Black and white cow standing on grass field
    via Screenroad

    A cow, the animal that one student from Boston in the 80s had never seen. 

    Stock photo unrelated.

  • 15
    mateothegreek HS World History - VA I start off every year with a geography review and at least a quarter to a third of students think we live next to the Pacific
    via u/mateothegreek
  • 16
    Virginia beach shoreline
    via Daniel Halseth

    The shoreline of Virginia Beach, which famously sits on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. 

    Stock photography for depiction only.

  • 17
    Temporary_Duck4337 Pretty sure I learned all that when I was in elementary school... Shouldn't need a geography class to know which way is North. Then again I used to use a map to figure out how to get someplace. Maybe for most kids these days all they know is whatever their GPS says is straight ahead.
    via u/Temporary_Duck4337
  • 18

    It is wild that these kids don't take a geography class until 12th grade. It should be reinforced throughout their educational careers!

    cappuccinofathe OP Yea they need to know less to get around places. It would be a great field trip to drop them in a park with a map and ask them to find their way out or to a prize at a certain coordinate. I also learned the directions and states and regions in 5th grade but also learned it again in 9th grade. Now kids take world history in 9th grade and no social studies in 10th grade.
    via u/cappuccinofathe
  • 19

    It's so much more than just memorizing names and capitals, and yet that's what kids think of it as.

    Entropy355 Waaayyy back in '99 I was doing my student teaching year. Freshman geography. The kids hated the subject, they hated me. I soldiered on. First quiz I gave, entire class failed it. I cried. Back to square one. Geography is uniquely maligned among school subjects. "Why do we have to know this...its stupid..its faraway!" Sad thing is Geography is so crucial for making sense of the world. Its the "glue" that connects topics in history, politics, sociology and even sciences like geology an
    via u/Entropy355
  • 20
    of the main reasons American students have fallen so far behind the rest of the world, and it started many years ago. I never became a teacher because of my bad experience trying to teach kids geography so long ago. But I made sure my own kids were not "geography" dumb. Good luck.
    via u/Entropy355
  • 21

    Did you have to learn how to use a compass as a child?

    Slow_Fondant6389 People don't learn how to use maps because directions are on phones. Want to find out quick what teenagers were Scouts? There is a map reading merit badge that's easy to learn and get. Reading maps and using a compass is not hard for kids to learn. It takes a couple of hours. But not taught in school.
    via u/Slow_Fondant6389
  • 22

    This sounds like a great school!

    Salty_Dog_1221 We teach this in elementary school in MA. The fourth graders have an entire unit on regions of the US. I was an elementary school librarian and I loved incorporating indigenous folk tales and non fiction science books into the unit. I found it fascinating, and so did the students. There's a really great Reading Rainbow episode on US regions, sounds like these 12th graders could use it. Jeez, I'd cry too! That's terrible!
    via u/Salty_Dog_1221
  • 23
    laSeekr Experienced this a while back with kids in the South Bronx. I would put up a map of the states, have the state names typed out next to it...and see who could match beyond the obvious (California, Texas, Florida.) Trying to explain that knowledge was power, not "boring." Broke my d ed heart.
    via u/laSeekr
  • 24

    Standardized testing has made education worse instead of better.

    Live-Cartographer274 If we could get a geography and civics portion on the SAT and ACT it would be mandated curriculum right away. It's the only metric they seem to care about - at least where I'm at. Thats how the state ranks districts
    via u/Live-Cartographer274

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