I think that teaching about present cultures more than history is important.
A lot of kids in America are, let's face it, materialistic, greedy, and rude. I should know, I go to school with them.
Learning about cultures and people that live on $1 or less a day, who sleep on cardboard boxes, and who can't even get an education- it should teach kids how fortunate we are.
Economic crisis, yeah right. For us, maybe. But about the 1 out of every 5 people that live on less than a dollar a day? Trust me, it's no crisis.
