“When I was growing up, my parents used to say to me: ‘Finish your dinner — people in China are starving.’ I, by contrast, find myself wanting to say to my daughters: ‘Finish your homework — people in China and India are starving for your job.’” -- from Thomas Friedman's The World is Flat
First, let me thank you all for your attention to the film last Friday. You probably know my answer to the question in the title of this post. I do think there is a crisis - a quiet crisis that is more dangerous than any crisis we face as a country. But this blogging session is not about what
I think. It is your opportunity to give your opinion about 2 Million Minutes, about the so-called crisis in American education, and your feelings about your experience with American education.The film 2 Million Minutes tells the story of how six students use their 2,000,000 minutes (4 yrs) of high school. It quickly becomes obvious that the two students from India and the two from China spend far more time in school and studying than the two students from the United States. While all six students went on to college, the Indian and Chinese students were disappointed that they did not get into their first choice of schools. What does this say about them? Are they weaker students than the film portrayed? Or did they just set their sights higher than the American students?
So, how does all of this relate to you?
Are you concerned or alarmed by what you saw? Do you think that American students like you should be doing something different? Should school officials and teachers being doing something different to help improve how American students are performing?
Is there really a crisis?
You may think that all this talk about a crisis in American education is just dead wrong. What do you think? Is there really a crisis? Do you think that you'll be prepared to compete for the really good jobs when you graduate from college?
Do you think tha
t American students spend enough time in school and studying? Do we spend too much time on other things - sports, TV, video games, or other things? Do you think that you should make changes in the amount of time that you study?Regardless of how you feel about 2 Million Minutes, there is a lot to talk about and debate. I want this to be the most active blogging session so far. Read all of the comments that have been made, enter your own comment, then come back often throughout this week to continue the conversation. The only thing that I ask, is that you keep the conversation thoughtful and intelligent. Be sure to give reasons for the opinions you offer.
Before commenting, take a few minutes to watch the following video:
Helpful Links
USA Today article about 2 Million Minutes
Boston Globe - My lazy American students
This session will end at 12 am on Saturday, January 16.
Student Sleeping image from Flickr
Posts
47 comments:
I feel that we do indeed study enough. It seems that we don't because the other countries have so many other people that they SEEM to have a bigger percentage of honor students. If we made fractions of the honor students out of all students I am 90% sure that they would be very close. I feel that the other places study almost to much. They have almost no time for themselves and don't know how to feel and personal feelings. They only know about facts and technology which is why I feel that we are a better place because we can express our opinions.
Chase Y says: I think that when Americans go to school they use their time wisely, it just doesn't seem that way because foreign kids have their careers picked for them at an early age and they aren't allowed to do anything but go to school and study, unlike Americans we have freedom to pick our own careers and we have to do extra curricular activities. Basically Americans are totally different than foreigners because we have freedom to do what we want.
I believe that we don't study hard enough, or want things enough because we expect that everything should be given to us. I also believe that we don't work hard enough because we don't think that any jobs can be taken away from us by people who live in other countries and that we'll always get into whatever college we want or get whatever job we want because we're Americans and we have always had everything just handed to us without doing any work. But I believe that if we ever want to be an academic country we need to get more serious, stop playing our gameboys, watching tv and playing with our iPods before we can ever be a leading country with academics. And I believe that if we do this, we'll be one of the smartest countries in the world again.
Connor M: I think we definitely do well in school (relatively), and like Breanne said, the reason the other countries do better is because they have so many people. In America, there are lots of people who are basically born with good study habits and do well in school. Since there are more people born in other countries, more of them are likely to be gifted. Secondly, on an account of freedom, the other countries like China are mostly manufacturing countries, and they need workers and innovators to help design more profitable things to sell to the consumer countries like America. They're building the stuff we buy, and we have the luxury of using it, so sometimes we overuse those products and lose sight of what's important like a good education and job.
I feel that we study and work diligently, though we may not live up to some expectations. We might have it easier than some, but we still work hard. What the movie didn't show was the American people that DO spend most of their time working hard and studying, that have their future education and jobs set, and struggle through economic stress. Still, I thought the movie's overall message was agreeable, they just showed it from a somewhat biased point of view.
When I said "They have almost no time for themselves and don't know how to feel..." I meant to end that sentence and say: They have no personal feelings because they have all their choices almost picked out for them, like their career is based on family members' choices, so that is what they expect themselves to do without truly having a thought on it.
I think that we study enough as Breanne and Allison said. We have other actives and stuff they don't have. They don't have as much as we do and they don't always get what they want which makes them want to keep on trying so they can be successful.
I think that us being Americans do study enough! We just don't do it every minute of our lives! I think that if we can function and do great in school along with playing sports and "having a social life" we will succeed in life! They have way more people than we have also, so yeas of course there honor students are going to be way higher than hours. It doesn't mean that all American students are lazy. Its just that we focus more so on our other life besides school. I do think more time could be put into school, but I still think we should have a life besides school. The video was so-so! I think that the Asians and Indians will have better jobs! Which is fine, but we still want good jobs also. How many "Alex Rodriguez's" or "Derek Jeter's" do you see in China or India? If people can make a great living playing sports that sounds great to me! So I think that if people do fine in school and in sports they will have a great life!
- Carson
Well to start things off i would like to say that i took that video as a bit of an insult. Its saying (well in my interpretation) that we don't try. Well THEY don't now how hard we DO try. But we like to focus on having fun and living life to its fullest. Although we are not as well, smart we do try but we want to have fun. School is VERY important for us to have a good future, but also is fun. If we didn't just hang out and relax sometimes, other than almost always working then we wouldn't be the happy, funny, interesting people we are today. Social life is a big part for us, but no some us don't try hard enough. As Tiye said though we do get distracted easier. Plus we have more technology developing each day. Though we may not study hard enough SOME of us DO try. We can be focused more on other things though like football or soccer.But all in all i think we need to try harder and overcome the certain circumstances that technology has given us.
Ana: like Connor said I believe that everyone should do good in school. Students in other countries (that we saw in this video) just have higher expectations and they are pushed to acheive those. Although we have some too, we just don't strive to acheive them. Also, what Allison said is true. This movie didn't show that a portion (not alot) of US students actually do study and work hard.
All of the students shown in 2,000,000 minutes have extra-cricular activities going on. The students in foriegn countries are non- stop during the day in school, sports, and other activities, however they still are able to manage all these things and keep their grades up as well. On the other hand, the students in America are opposite.
Here we get very distracted from our school work from tv, computers, (other technologies), and etc. In this movie, it showed a group of seniors (girls) studying and watching tv at the same time. How confusing! People in foreign countries are just focused and they don't have any available time to do all the fooling around as we do!
Ana: I believe that US students should try harder in what they do and they should focus more on what they can acheive in the future.
(ADDING ON TO MY LAST COMMENT)
I think that we should put the games down more because we play games more than we study. if all of america played gamed then no one would graduate and be better at what they do
I believe that we do need to open our eyes a little wider and see that we are falling behind when it comes to our academic stand point compared to other countries around the world. We also need to realize that everything has been handed down to us, if we wanted something we would probably get it, no doubt about it. Now we are starting to see that the countries that never had anything handed down to them are starting to see if they work harder they might get that something they wanted. So i believe we need to set higher goals for ourself if we even set goals, and study, study, study! Thats not all we would also need to make the school hours and/or school year longer. We would need more time to get back up on our feet because we have fallen so far behind. we also need to focous more on our future not want is behind level 9 on our new video game.
~Abby~
Chase - While China does significantly limit the freedom of its citizens, India is a democratic nation with many of the freedoms we enjoy. I think it is not so much that someone else chooses their careers for them, but the students seeing certain careers as the key to success.
Jonathan - Do you think that we need to stop all of those extracurricular activities, or would adjusting our priorities and the amount of time we spend on them do it?
Connor - Relative to what or to who? Does being born gifted equate to good study habits? What about those gifts that go unused? So where will we continue to get the money to pay for those goods we purchase from places like China? Those high tech engineering jobs are not factory jobs.
Allison - Point well taken. I think we do have kids that work hard, but I wonder if that's the exception rather than the rule in our country.
Meera - Good point, but can we continue to have those things that we want if we continually fall behind the rest of the world academically?
Carson - I agree. I, too, think that we can have social lives and excel academically. But do we really have enough people doing "great" in school? And great by what standards?
You are all correct to point out that a country with a billion people has a better chance at also having more honor students. Does that matter when there are a finite (limited) number of desirable jobs on the world market.
Carson - Add up the number of people making a living playing sports in America and figure out what percentage that is of the working population of America. Is a career in sports a realistic choice for more than just a few Americans?
More in a few minutes.
You guys are all doing a great job. Be opened minded as you read the comments of your peers and continue the debate.
Sure we are falling behind right now but we are still trying to do our best. We can do activites and do our school work and everything. Maybe we do need to catch up a little but we can still get good jobs with the enough studying we do in school already.
Americans do need to work more at what they're doing and catch up in this "global economic race". Maybe if India and China do start ending up on top, then we'll finally realize that we need to step up the game. It would be like someone throwing a bucket water over you, an awakening. Though I'm sure that was probably what this movie was trying to do, but as the old saying goes "If it were a snake...." I think America has the potential, but we've been getting off track more often. I think Abby made a good point, we really need to pack down on the studying and apply ourselves to our work. I also agree with what Jazzy and Carson and several others said about us being successful in things other than education, such as sports, digital programing, et cetera, where others are not. Some others are saying that the people from other countries weren't doing anything except school related things, but its not true. The Chinese girl played violin and did ballet, the Chinese boy played video games and went to city events. The Indian boy played soccer and was in a band, the Indian girl would go out with her friends. So really, they are just doing more to be successful than we are.
I do believe that as a whole Americans could focus on school a little more. But do we really need to? I know there is a lot of talk about how Americans are lazy or not very hardworking, but we as students dedicate many countless hours each day on school work. Also many Americans are gifted in sports and can make millions of dollars playing them. Why would anybody want to do something different. Last, after watching the movie and seeing clips on the news and other various places it seems like all the Asians and Chinese seem to do is work. No free time to socialize with friends, watch T.V, or use the computer. So overall I believe we should focus on school a little more, but we don't need to go out of our way to do something insane.
Tori: I felt that kids in America are not working hard enough as the kids over in China and India. Over in China they fight for little they have just like in India. They don't have things handed to them like we (as Americans)usually do. Americans have video games that distract us. Over seas parents don't have finanical support as we do. Us having finanical support makes the children think that if they don't get good jobs they would have their parents to support them. While in China and India the kids need to have a good job and good finanical support because their parents may no have enough money to support them.
You all have made very good points. I beleive that we don't study as hard as we could. Towards Breanna and Connor, they may have a bigger population than us, but that doesn't really matter. They have more honor students because they pay A LOT more attention in school. As i said in class, we get distracted easier because we have all of the games and electronics that they create in our households, when they can't afford them. Also, it does seem like we have a funner and more exciting life. But when were flipping burgers at McDonald's or lying in bed at a hospital 'cause were to lazy to get exercise, we'll see how fun our life is! I think that if we find a neutral balance of school work/studying and extra curricular activities, we could not only be the smartest nation, but also the fittest. Reguarding Carson comment: Not everyone can get some fabulous athletic job where we get paid millions of dollars for scoring a touchdown, hitting a home run, or scoring a goal. Life is never and will never be that easy. I'm sorry to crush your happy little sports fantisy, but odds are that YOU or any one at our school probably won't get a professional athlete job. (No offense though).
Okay so after reading some of the comments about us not trying our best I have somewhat of a new opinion. I believe we do do our best just not the best we can do in school. Truthfully I don't always do my best in school, yet I always try my best at home. Just because our day in school isn't always the best, doesn't mean that were not smart. I have awful days in school all the time but I have these 5 books about different scientific topics and right know I am reading Rocks and Minerals and even though what I did today in Lang is a blur I am quite skillful in the knowledge of rocks and minerals. So I guess what I am trying to say is that just because you don't know the basics doesn't mean your incompatant.
Sorry Breanne. Ispelled your name wrong.
Sorry Carson i didn't mean to sound mean, the thing posted my comment before i could change it. I meant to say: There is a highly unlikely that most kids will get an athletic job. Some of the best college players i have ever seen don't make the "big leagues". I have thought about becoming a professional athlete (yes i do play sports), but i also made a back up plan just is case it doesn't work out.
I think we are doing a pretty good job in school, but the main reason Asia and China have way more honor kids than us is because they have more students. Their population is almost double ours. If we had as many students as them, we too would probably be up in the top 5 in academics. So just because they have more honor kids than us doesn't mean Americans are dumb. We are smarter than most think. America is the country that created Microsoft, and all kinds of inventions many countries still don't even have.
I believe America is a lot smarter than many people think. If we had just as many students as China and Asia we would be just as smart or smarter in the long run than them. One of the only reasons they have more honor students than we do is because they have millions of more people. I believe we don't need to spend millions or change lots of things for us to do "better" in school. Anyway we are the worlds most high tech and advanced country in the world
I accidently typed like the same thing twice.
Breanne made a good point. A lot of kids will apply themselves more at home at things they find interesting or are good at rather than the work at school. Tiye also made a good point, if we balanced our education out with our extra curricular activities than we might regain our title as the most successful country; the smartest, most colorful, crazily active country.
In the last comment I wrote, by "colorful" I was referring to artists, musicians, et cetera (and for active was talking about sports).
I think we study enough and get good grades for a reason. We all try to do good, we all study and work hard. Also people in china have to pay to go to school and alot of chinese people are poor but over here we don't. Also we have mroe fun than they do we hang out with our friends, play games, and play sports. The indian boy was the only one that looked like he has a life and doesn't only study all the rest of them only studied. Their schedule is wake up, eat, go to school, come home study, eat, study AGAIN, and go to sleep, then repeat over and over. We might not be first in everything but why does that matter. no one gets a trophy for having the smartest country. Also to add ALL the forien kids didn't get to a college in the U.S.A. so that gives us a better chance of getting in to a college. Plus people will most likly want a person thet graduated college from the U.S.A. than China or India because they could say they are all these good things but you wouldn't have any proof he did that.
All with this 2 Million Minutes what about 33 Minutes.
I recomend you google it, interesting stuff.
David Y:I kind of do feel that we dont study hard enough. Sure India has more honor students that we have students.....but I really dont want to extend the school day. I know probably one day we would have to compete with other nations for jobs. I do think we could study more, thats something because we definatly spend way more time on the television.
I believe that the video did prove that there is a need to study more and focus more on academics, but I was not alarmed by what the video was saying. I would say that part of the problem is that not everyone is getting the same opportunity to learn as the people in better public schools. Students that are in good public schools in America seem to be keeping up academically. If everyone had the same opportunity, I don't think we'd be as far behind as we are.
I think that the Indian and Chinese students definitely set their sights higher than the American students. I don't think it makes them weaker students than the film portrayed but since they didn't get into their first choice, maybe they're not that much better students than the American students. The paper that Mr. Veliz gave us says that only 40% of Chinese students get past the 9th grade and India has an illiteracy rate of over one-third.
I say that just because India and China are ahead of America in acidemics dosen't mean Americans are lazy and don't study enough, we don't study as much and we also have to balance sports and other things. I agree with David Yu we could use a little more time studying and doing homework than watching t.v. or playing video games.
hey this is devin form b prd.
The whole idea of the film was we need to get our priority straight or we will fall behind other countries.
It says we have always had it the easy way and recently we have to do it the way the whole other part of the world always has...
All that time it has been saying that i wondered one question... How do you get a whole country to change?
I thought about it really hard and now i have a ANSWER... we should announce it to america and get teachers and parents to teach kids to have high goals at young age.
The reason we have to announce it to America is because it is a quite crisis and few people know about it.
The reason we have to get young kids to set high goals is the younger kids are the future of america and really you cant tell some adult to change and expect them to change unless you have a really good reason.
I think we do have anough students doing great at school. Its just compared to China and India we dont have as many. Also they don't have social lives. In this film it all it showed was school, eat, sleep for the Chinese and Indians,
I was talking with my dad and he almost got cut because he works on the internet and all of the indians are getting some jobs from his work because you don't have to pay that much money for them. He said the indians and chinese get paid half of him but has the same job. Thats why people in other countries are getting our jobs.
Not only what I have said and people like Allison but I am watching Bones right now and I understand whats going on. I also know what curf marks are and what they look like and everything. I am sure people in other countries might not know that. We may not be smart in the same sense as the other places but we are smarter in different areas in a different way.
I would also agree with Luke, the other people wil work for very cheap in the U.S. Even though its cheap for us its expensive to them!
Tori: Sometimes I think that Americans slack off and they don't do there work as they are suppose to. I think some parents let their children off easy when they make a C. Over in China and India the parents are hard on their children even if they get a B. I'm not blaming the parents and I'm not blaming the kids, I think it is equal blame.
Connor M: Great point Breanne! That's true, like Carson said as well, we may be just as smart, but the other countries focus their attention on purely academics, while we're more intelligent in the area of sports and social lives. By relative, I meant compared to all the countries of the world, not just China and India. I thought the movie was a little biased, because it showed the least productive parts of the American student's lives, while it showed the Indian and Chinese students doing work all the time.
I agree with Connor, carson,and Breanne .if I was highering people for an online work I would higherthe person who will work for the least amout amount of money so I can get more. Right?
to the kids that think this crisis is just a compitition, if a whole country isnt motivated and rather be at the movies is it still a race for jobs or race for slobs.
Give it a tink.
Like Breanne said we are smarter then them in different ways. We do need to catch up a lttle but not by adding more hours of school or days of school. Also what Luke said that people in other countries getting jobs but with less money.
The clip on the blog page severely creeped me out because it doesn't just undermine Americans... it undermines EVERYONE! What will happen when the smartest person isn't even a percent of the concept of intellegent compared to a machine we let get smarter than the entire population of the world combined, that WE made?
I want to ask two questions...my first question is why would companies hire people from other countries because when people lose their jobs here, the money won't be put back into our economy? My second question is, if we're so far behind, why do people in other countries want to go to college here?
the average big corp exec. makes 10000$ in his first hour on the job, that maore than most families making 6 months
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