I WAS surprised to read the confused diatribe apparently aimed at the US education system in the Evening Press ("God help us", Letters, January 25).

My wife, who is American, failed to recognise the system that educated her from the description. One thing to note is that, unlike the UK, religion and education are strictly separated by constitutional edict in the USA.

In the USA, prayer in school is technically illegal, and subject to fierce debate. In the UK, prayer in school is technically mandatory. The US system isn't perfect but the characterisation given in the letter was a gross misrepresentation.

My wife was also upset by the mindless anti-American sentiment the letter displayed. There is a huge difference between the politicians in a country, portraits of nations in popular TV programmes and the beliefs of the population of a nation.

If the UK population were to be judged on the basis of Tony Blair, Big Brother and Coronation Street, the world would get a very distorted view of what the British public is actually like.

Aaron Turner,

Sherwood Grove,

Huntington, York.

Updated: 11:12 Wednesday, February 02, 2005