Dumb blonde fails 3rd grade question

I have taught junior high and senior high English and social studies for over thirty years, and let me tell you: There are people just that ignorant - many more than you want to know. And the problem is getting worse. I have had students tell me on tests that Anne Frank went into hiding during the U.S. Civil War, that Hitler was president of the United States during World War II, that July is the coldest month of the year in Minnesota, etc. I remember a general music student from years ago (when I was a student) who thought that a particular song was written in the key of H. The ignorance problem is not always the result of poor schools; a teacher can teach, prod, and cajole until he's blue in the face. The sad fact is that some students have NO intellectual life at home, read nothing, pay no attention to what goes in the classroom, and simply CANNOT THINK. The scariest part is that too many of these people vote and that politicians shape their views according to the "collective wisdom" - spoken in hushed tones,
of course - of the American people.

I apologize. This is all my fault.I once fu--ed her brains out, and now she's left like this.

FYI in case you're not an American, this is from a quiz show called "Are You Smarter Than A Fifth-Grader?"...the implication being that the majority of the contestants are not. Contestants seem to be selected for their ability to appear peppy and enthusiastic and dim--Kellie is pretty much par for the course.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Are_You_Smarter_Than_A_Fifth_Grader

Now that I look at the Wikipedia entry, I have to admit I was unaware of the various international versions, including "Are You Smarter Than A Canadian Fifth Grader?"

Has anyone seen the Polish version, "Czy jeste? m?drzejszy od 5-klasisty?"

God, we are so stupid in this country. I don't think she was born that way. My guess is that her local school system lacked the money to attract good teachers.

Oh --- by the by, I believe Badiuk's Polish comment translates into English as "...but, being a native European, I know [that Europe's a continent]; most Americans [probably don't know this because they're foreigners]." If that's correct, it's a fair enough admission; we all are more likely to know more about our own region than about places that are distant.
I admit that my Polish is about as good as a Polish two-year-old's at this point, so I apologize if I'm too far off the mark. (I also don't know how well Badiuk phrased his comment; it might be well-written, or it might be the Polish equivalent of the cryptic "well I dont but you know what I mean" that some kid sent me after hacking into my ex-fiancee's e-mail account: something that defies translation and is a baffling non-sequitur even to native speakers of the language. [The e-mail I had sent to my fiancee at the time simply asked her when she expected to get off work that day, and that I looked forward to seeing her that evening. She had checked her e-mail on a library computer and forgotten to log off, so a kid who got on next read her e-mails and sent prank replies.])