GIS Day — 14 November 2007 Can Change A Life (Yours)
My friend Brendon recently posted something interesting about some quality time he spent with his son. Made me think about how important the (very soon) upcoming GIS Day is to parents and children. GIS day is a showcase for all sorts of GIS (Geographic Information Systems) and GPS (Global Positioning System) systems and applications. But it’s also a showcase of our world … a place where we as a world people are often woefully ignorant.
I’ve been working with maps and map-based information systems for more than 40 years now. The geographic awareness level of otherwise well educated people, especially my fellow Americans is woefully inadequate. For most of my life schools, from elementary to the graduate level have treated geography and earth sciences as some sort of eoteric “geek” niche that only a tiny subset of the student population would or even should be interested in. Many US high schools don’t even teach teach geography … how utterly absurd.
I’m taking these few minutes today to remind you that there is not a single scientific discipline that’s more important for us as a world population to learn, and learn well, than the structure and systems of our home. Language skills, business administration, computer science, nursing, elder care, on and on are a list of important, interesting and often very important disciplines … but especially for a child growing up today … not a single one of them means squat if we, as a world population don’t learn the ways of our planet and how to “operate it”. So, here’s my advice for 14 November 2007. It doesn’t matter if you are a taxi driver reading this blog to learn about how to defeat the autocratically-imposed GPS tracking system in your cab or a Phd. in software development reading to get an occasional chuckle from my frequent technical faux pas … you have a mission.
- Find a GIS Day event that interests you. The “finder” is here, there are activities in more than 78 countries, including all 50 US states, so I won’t accept the “there’s nothing near me” excuse.
- Attend. Take along your children (young or old), if you have none, borrow one … you will do nothing more important this month that instill a sense of wonder and learning in a child … they are the one who are stuck with the mess we have made of our world.
- Learn, enjoy, bond
- When you return home, visit you children’s school, or your alma mater and ask the principal or dean why you didn’t meet her/him at the event. (If you’re one of the lucky ones whose school is “with the program”, praise that person … powerful feedback is very important.
- Write me and tell me what was good (or bad) about this assignment. I’ll be happy to feature your story and if you school or company is one of the “enlightened ones” I’ll be double-happy to feature what you did to participate.
- Mandatory: Have some fun!
More GIS Day resources: