OK, so I laughed when I saw the thread.
But the reality is that our kids are learning so much that something’s got to give. In this case, it’s the name of the numbers they use every day.
When I was in elementary school in the late 60’s, there was a huge emphasis on the 3 R’s. We diagrammed sentences. We wrote and rewrote and rewrote those times tables. We did SRA reading. Spelling words. We knew state capitals. And, yes, we knew what Arabic numerals were.
Kids today have all that. And stranger danger. And the dangers of obesity and AIDS. And computer literacy. And the dangers of revealing too much online–though obviously that could use a bit more emphasis. They’re expected to be global citizens in a globe that’s everchanging. There’s the big push for cooperative learning. And of course STEM. As evidenced by this site, kids in 8th and 9th grade are concerned about their college applications. And the list goes on and on and on.
So, while it makes a good punchline, I’m not sure it’s a big deal that so many can’t recognize the phrase Arabic Numerals. I’m happy if they’re competent at dealing with them… if they know those times table when I ask them to factor a polynomial and give me two numbers whose product is -72 and whose sum is 1.