The Student Room Group

are most british people still undereducated?

i find there are a lot of British people who despite having access to better education still believe in outdated/disproven stuff.

like gender differences, there are some who still believe in the "boys like blue/girls like pink" stuff, or that gays and paedophiles are one in the same.

should there be mandatory classes for them?

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I am a boy and I like blue
Yes.They are.We live in a society wholly dependent upon science and technology in which nobody knows anything about science and technology.I once had a hairdresser tell me she didnt know the sun was a star.
Maybe I've just been watching too much but judging by the crowd I see on stage on Jeremy Kyle...
Reply 4
Original post by #ChaosKass
The more foreigners that enter the UK, the more uneducated the UK becomes.


Most likely the opposite but whatever
Reply 5
You'd be surprised at the number of educated people who hold such views aswell. Even if a proportion of British people think in the ways you've outlined, I can guarantee it's a lot lower than some other parts of the world. Contrary to what most people on the left think, we lead the world in tolerance and liberalism.

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Okay, no one seems to really be answering your question so here goes:

The UK is like nearly every other first world country. There will be the highly educated, the not-so-educated and the averagely educated inbetween. This will vary from area to area. You'll find the same thing in Ireland, France, the United States and Japan.

You get stupid people everywhere but many smart people too. For example, my dad has a degree but my mother doesn't. Someone such as yourself who doesn't know them personally would instantly assume my mother is the more 'stupid' one when really, she's a very intelligent woman.

Also, what would you class as educated? Are we talking socially or academically or? I mean, the UK has free healthcare. Some British universities are amongst the top in the world and in certain parts of the UK you can go to college for free. Socially, the UK aren't too behind.

The whole 'boys like blue/girls like pink' thing is a mystery to me. I've come across two people with that firm mindset and they were from France and the States. As for being resentful and ignorant about the LGBT community I'd say that is more of a generation divide than an education divide. In saying that, you will ALWAYS find idiots no matter where you go.

TDLR; no, the UK isn't under-educated but it could be improved. It's like everywhere else - made up of both smart and dumb people.
You do realise that views like that exist outside of Britain, right?

Even people who are very educated hold views such as those, but there are people who have naught but a few GCSEs to their name who aren't as ignorant.

And for the record, I'm a girl and I love pink.

Original post by Robby2312
Yes.They are.We live in a society wholly dependent upon science and technology in which nobody knows anything about science and technology.I once had a hairdresser tell me she didnt know the sun was a star.


Is that to say that hairdressers aren't educated? Because one hairdresser does not equal all hairdressers. My old mobile hairdresser is qualified to teach English language to high school and further education students and did hairdressing for something to do during the summer holidays. She had qualified as a hairdresser after leaving school, then went to uni about ten years after finishing school. Some people are intelligent and worldly but enjoy jobs such as hairdressing.

My mother is educated to degree-level in politics, philosophy and economics and had, until this week, never heard of the words 'criterion' or 'stratification'. She is highly intelligent and still laughs at words I use that she has never heard of. But then, she doesn't really read books unless they are 'relevant' (such as books when she did her degree) and uses a dictionary. Or uses me as a dictionary.
Reply 8
Original post by ShannyMorrison
Okay, no one seems to really be answering your question so here goes:

The UK is like nearly every other first world country. There will be the highly educated, the not-so-educated and the averagely educated inbetween. This will vary from area to area. You'll find the same thing in Ireland, France, the United States and Japan.

You get stupid people everywhere but many smart people too. For example, my dad has a degree but my mother doesn't. Someone such as yourself who doesn't know them personally would instantly assume my mother is the more 'stupid' one when really, she's a very intelligent woman.

Also, what would you class as educated? Are we talking socially or academically or? I mean, the UK has free healthcare. Some British universities are amongst the top in the world and in certain parts of the UK you can go to college for free. Socially, the UK aren't too behind.

The whole 'boys like blue/girls like pink' thing is a mystery to me. I've come across two people with that firm mindset and they were from France and the States. As for being resentful and ignorant about the LGBT community I'd say that is more of a generation divide than an education divide. In saying that, you will ALWAYS find idiots no matter where you go.

TDLR; no, the UK isn't under-educated but it could be improved. It's like everywhere else - made up of both smart and dumb people.


I know people from Africa and India who don't think that, and they have more of an excuse to do that. british people don't
Original post by dan.lunnux
I know people from Africa and India who don't think that, and they have more of an excuse to do that. british people don't


I don't know what part of my reply you're addressing here, you didn't make it clear.

I'm guessing it's about being 'backwards' in general. I never once said that there are excuses for being ignorant but some people are unfortunately born in the wrong family, area or religion.

For example, I was born and raised on an island with the population of around 2000 people. That place didn't get electricity until the 70s and my mum remembers fetching water from a well - she's only 40! One of my friends truly didn't know what a melon was (she's 18) - I'd say that wasn't her fault.

However, if she turned around to me and said that gay people were sexual predators, transgenders are make-believe and that all Muslims are terrorists I'd have smashed her face with that damned melon.

You see what I'm saying? Some things are truly out of people's control. If you can't buy melons where we're from, how was she meant to know what one was? However, is that an excuse to have a prehistoric mindset and be an ignorant douchebag? No, not at all.
(edited 7 years ago)
You might want to think about improving your grammar before you question other people's level of education.
Reply 11
just Britain? the whole world has its fair share of mind-numbingly stupid idiots
Well, as a start you definitely seem uneducated... You should start a sentence with a capital letter.
Hello losers this isn't about education this is about tradition. If you were raised to believe that gays are pedophiles then you'll do just that.

My parts both had PHDs in science but they were raised in a very narrow minded society (back then) so obviously they think gays are "sinful" (the justifications they came up with...sweet Jesus I wanted to smash my head on an ice pick)

Again some people are undereducated in Britain whether through their own fault (can't be arsed) or because they didn't babe the access to the right resources.

A woman I know, about 25, left school with about 7 GCSEs at barely a C grade, yet she knows and understands that guess what: men can be raped, and gays are humans too. Cool right? She's even set up a safe centre for them (underage teens who've been thrown out by their parents for e.g. being gay. Because that's obviously what you do to a kid you raised for 16 years and let a fetus leech of your womb for).


It's. Not. About. Education.
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by #ChaosKass
The more foreigners that enter the UK, the more uneducated the UK becomes.


Funny that, most of the GPs at my doctor's surgery are 'foreigners' as are many of the doctors at my local hospital. One of my daughters is a Ward Sister in charge of the Cardiac Ward at my local hospital. The majority of the nurses are 'foreigners' . The lecturer I am going to have today for my first lecture of the new academic year is Romanian.
Talking through your arse as usual.
Original post by a.little.bird
You do realise that views like that exist outside of Britain, right?

Even people who are very educated hold views such as those, but there are people who have naught but a few GCSEs to their name who aren't as ignorant.

And for the record, I'm a girl and I love pink.



Is that to say that hairdressers aren't educated? Because one hairdresser does not equal all hairdressers. My old mobile hairdresser is qualified to teach English language to high school and further education students and did hairdressing for something to do during the summer holidays. She had qualified as a hairdresser after leaving school, then went to uni about ten years after finishing school. Some people are intelligent and worldly but enjoy jobs such as hairdressing.

My mother is educated to degree-level in politics, philosophy and economics and had, until this week, never heard of the words 'criterion' or 'stratification'. She is highly intelligent and still laughs at words I use that she has never heard of. But then, she doesn't really read books unless they are 'relevant' (such as books when she did her degree) and uses a dictionary. Or uses me as a dictionary.


I never said hairdressers are uneducated I was just using that as an example.The majority of the british public are uneducated.You ask them a question about science and they wont be able to tell you the answer.It explains why so many people think climate change is a hoax,or the popularity of shows like the x factor.To be fair it doesnt just apply to british people,donald trump has a decent chance of becoming president of the most powerful nation on earth.And that is because he appeals to uneducated popular sentiment.
Original post by airportsh8me
Hello losers this isn't about education this is about tradition. If you were raised to believe that gays are pedophiles then you'll do just that.

My parts both had PHDs in science but they were raised in a very narrow minded society (back then) so obviously they think gays are "sinful" (the justifications they came up with...sweet Jesus I wanted to smash my head on an ice pick)

Again some people are undereducated in Britain whether through their own fault (can't be arsed) or because they didn't babe the access to the right resources.

A woman I know, about 25, left school with about 7 GCSEs at barely a C grade, yet she knows and understands that guess what: men can be raped, and gays are humans too. Cool right? She's even set up a safe centre for them (underage teens who've been thrown out by their parents for e.g. being gay. Because that's obviously what you do to a kid you raised for 16 years and let a fetus leech of your womb for).


It's. Not. About. Education.


I dont think being older is really an excuse for homophobia.It shows an unwillingness to examine deeply held views and a lack of critical thinking ability.Take for example richard dawkins he was raised in a religous household and hes of the generation where homosexuality was criminalised.Now hes an atheist and very much against homophobia.I find that hes old is quite a poor excuse.Just because you were raised in a society with certain views doesnt mean you have to hold those views yourself.Its called being able to think for yourself.
I'm not going to deny there are people who believe that, but are they really "most" British people? Perhaps they are the most "vocal" but I rarely encounter people who seriously believe homosexuality & pedophilia are the same thing.

In fact I've encountered more peopleon this forum for students who believe same-sex-marriage is as bad as pedophilia than I have IRL, so clearly education can't be everything lol. Have you seen some of the dumbass things university-educated people on this forum try to maintain?
Reply 18
You're making an assumption based on your life experiences, not facts. If you were to present education statistics your statement would have much stronger ground.
Not to mention, how you're making a link between being uneducated and having out of date views, which as many comments here have said already, is ridiculous.
Original post by Robby2312
I never said hairdressers are uneducated I was just using that as an example.The majority of the british public are uneducated.You ask them a question about science and they wont be able to tell you the answer.It explains why so many people think climate change is a hoax,or the popularity of shows like the x factor.To be fair it doesnt just apply to british people,donald trump has a decent chance of becoming president of the most powerful nation on earth.And that is because he appeals to uneducated popular sentiment.


Well there are more important things than science. It doesn't really matter if she doesn't know the sun is a star, it's not going to impact on her life or decisions in any way at all, and the same applies en masse if the British people don't know the sun is a star.

But you're right, I certainly believe if we want the right to live in a democracy we have to take on the responsibility of making rational, evidence-based voting decisions rather than lizard-brained ones.

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