U.S. Kids Score Lower on Global Knowledge, Here’s How Parents Can Change That

In 2022, the Pew Research Center released a sobering global knowledge quiz showing that American adults consistently score lower than their European counterparts on questions related to geography, world history, and international politics. If the grown-ups are falling behind, what does that mean for the next generation?

In a world more interconnected than ever, the lack of global literacy among U.S. children isn’t just an academic gap—it’s a social and emotional one, too. Understanding cultures outside our own cultivates empathy, curiosity, and a sense of shared humanity. And while schools play a role, the shift toward global awareness starts at home.

Whitney Duenas Richardson knows this firsthand. Raised on the island of Guam and now living in the mainland U.S., she experienced the cultural disconnect when she moved as a teen. “I was under the impression that because Guam is a U.S. territory, people would know where it was. That wasn’t the case,” she said in a recent interview on the MissPoppins: The Art of Parenting podcast.

That early cultural invisibility would later inspire Global Sprouts, the company she founded after becoming a mother in 2023. The brand delivers monthly subscription boxes designed to help kids ages 2 to 6 explore different cultures through toys, crafts, stories, and even recipes. It’s immersive, hands-on learning built for small hands and growing minds.

Each box features a lesser-known country—like Lesotho, Cyprus, or Guam itself—paired with a more familiar one, like Spain or Mexico. “There are very few tools for parents to teach young kids about the world,” Richardson said.

“I think the stat is that 77% of parents want to teach about other cultures, but only 20% have the resources. So Global Sprouts is my way of offering parents the solution and the resource to teach their kids about other cultures.”

— Whitney Duenas Richardson, Founder of Global Sprouts on the MissPoppins Podcast

The problem isn’t that kids are uninterested, it’s that many don’t have the exposure. We assume kids are just naturally mean sometimes, but often they’re reacting to differences, the podcast host reflected. When children aren’t taught cultural awareness, they’re more likely to fear or mock what they don’t understand.

That’s why cultural literacy in American kids isn’t just about maps and flags. It’s about showing kids what life looks like outside their zip code and why it matters.

Richardson’s approach is deeply personal. She’s traveled to more than 40 countries and models cultural empathy through storytelling with her own daughter. “We hang up pictures of children from different countries on her wall,” she said. “She points to them and remembers what story they came from. She’s only two, but we’re setting the foundation now.”

It’s not just for world travelers. Whether a child ever leaves their hometown or not, learning about other cultures fosters openness and imagination. Parents can start simply—with books, food, music, or even a cultural pen pal. The key is consistency and curiosity.

“The goal isn’t to raise trivia experts,” Richardson said. “It’s to raise globally curious kids who want to learn, connect, and understand others.”

That mindset of curiosity over certainty is the real solution to America’s global knowledge gap.

Because in the end, raising children who are confident in who they are and respectful of others isn’t just good parenting, it's good citizenship.