Although it is by no means an isolated incident, I was disturbed to read in the article “Breaking social barriers” (BDN, March 10) a quote by a visiting Bronx, N.Y. high school sophomore who had no idea where Maine was and spelled it “main.”

“Back in the day,” before we had technology to do our thinking for us, by the fifth grade we had to know each of the 48 states (this was in the 1940s), their locations on the map and their capitals. We even had to know (alphabetically) the 16 counties of Maine.

The geography of our country plays an important part in many of our social and economic considerations. It is important to know how each state and its location fits into the overall interests of the whole.

Patricia Ayers

Camden