Why We Need Roman Numerals

As an educator I have watched the educational landscape ebb and flow in all different directions. There are some things that are taught and they are considered the most important thing in the world when they are taught, and then they are seen as nonsense once you've grown into the real world. A perfect example of this type of teaching is the mathematical method they called "new math". The main piece of this "new math" was casting out 9's. I won't go into the method of casting out 9's, but has been shown to be obsolete and not needed. Another one of these things, was the metric system that was suppose to overtake all american measuremnt. This sounded like a great idea, but we were never consistent; therefore, the kids who had this thought beat into them are now just multitalented in metric and american measurements. However, one item that has gone by the way side and is still truly needed in american education is Roman Numerals.

When I was in 2nd grade, I learned Roman numerals. After that, we were quizzed, tested, and made sure we knew these inside and out. They didn't teach us these as another way to count, but as a needed piece of our education. Why have they stopped being taught in public education? The normal answer to this question is that there are things that are seen as more important. A few of the things that are seen as more important than roman numerals are: typing, computers, standardized test, how the schools operates, who the school people are, what the date is, and how the months are arranged. Interesting enough, I learned all of those things except how the school operates and such. I didn't need to know any of that stuff, but the kids now seem to need to know that. I'm unsure why. But Roman Numerals, when are they can learn these?

Why do we need them? Without Roman Numerals, we have no knowledge of how to do a correct outline. Remember, the first thing you put on a piece of paper on a traditional outline is a roman numeral. The next item you'll not know how to use is the beginning of text books, and various other books. The beginning of most educational and factual books has an appendix that is labeled as roman numerals. In addition to that, many of the novels and books out there list their chapters in roman numerals. Many of the world's clocks are in roman numerals; especially the clocks that pre-date the 1950's. The Roman Numeral system is also used for the Super Bowl, an American standby if there ever was one. Tons of students have no idea what those letters mean in the Super Bowls. Are we going to change the tradition because the kids are not being educated correctly?At the bottom of the symbolic pyramid on the back of the $1 bill, there is a bunch of Roman numerals. What does that mean? It's also an industry standard that says all years of movies must be listed in Roman Numerals. Finally, many of the teachers and professors that were taught roman numerals use them as a normal numbering system in their lectures. Can you imagine listening to a teacher and not knowing what they have on the board? Without the knowledge of roman numerals, all of this information is lost.

So what are the Roman Numerals:

I - 1
II - 2
III - 3
(This si the tricky part. All numbers prior to 5 and 10, it's like a subtraction problem. 1-5=4)
IV - 4
V - 5
VI - 6 (more math - This time it's addition: 5 + 1=6)
VII - 7
VIII - 8
IX - 9 (Math alert - 1-10=9)
X - 10
XI - 11
XII - 12
XIII - 13
XIV - 14 (Just like above - 10 + (1-5) = 10 + 4 = 14)
XV - 15
XVI -16
XVII - 17
XVIII - 18
XIX - 19 (Just like above)
XX - 20 (More math - 10 +10=20)

It continues like this till it turns into 50 which is M and 100 which is C.

If you'd like to learn more about the numerals past 100, then look it up and go in search of the knowledge. However, this is as much as a 2nd grader, and most people that live in the world, need to know. So join me in passing on the knowledge, the ability, and the information of the Roman Numerals to everyone that doesn't know it and for all of those young people who are no longer being taught it. Those young people are our future, and the future is looking bleak because of the ebb of education.