“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
53 comments:
Americans need to stop worrying about popularity and image, look at France, all they care about is what i mentioned, and their schools are the worst, we can focus more on school but we still need time for stuff.
P.S. Note in the Video that it says that 25% of all Indians is greater than the population of the U.S., but they assume that India has more honors kids, i want more proff than tat
I think that this movieis about getting kids motavated for school and to help them maintain better grades, by persuading them to study. But in my eyes the movie is right, American kids should study more, it is also good to hav ethe freedom of not studying atol so you don't study twenty-four seven like some of the indian and asian kids. It is better to have this freedom because it makes every different so you aren't tied down to just one scudule every day of the week, you can shake things up if you want to. You should have a flexable scudule, it would stink if you were in another country and had to do this then that an dthen the other thing. Thats just not how life is suposed to work, you are supposed to be able to hang out with you friends, play sports and do other fun things like that.
I think this movie was very interesting. I think that the purpose of this movie was that we, American students have everything that is needed here and over in China and India there isn't everything they need but we should have some kind of technic that would help us study more and be bright students that teachers would be looking for to send to thses great programms. And when if find that technic we will a lot less lazy and will got off our buts to work hard earn that A that every bright student should worth. Then not only will our teachers and parents will be proud of us but we will also be proud of ourselves. Only then we will be saying "Gosh all that hard work did pay off!".
Yeah sure it is good to have freedom. Its not like we should be cooped up in cage to study all day. I'm just saying that we should just a bit more than playing around or watching movies. I mean there's plenty of time for that but there is not alot of time to study when we are playing around alot. So by the time you are 18, and you had studyed most of the time, you will probably get better chocies of going into to better colleges on a good scholarship. If you were lazy until you turned 18 then you probably might not get good offers into good colleges and you probably would not be on a scholarship.
I do not think that the movie was very eye-opening to me. I kind of knew that American students were behind of India and China. I think that kids from China and India study because they don't play as much sports or have any fun. Still at the end of the movie it said that both of the American kids acheived their goals while the other countries didn't get to the college they wanted to. I do not think this is a very big crisis because we have very good sports teams and people actually have friends and aren't just sitting up in our rooms for the whole day studying. But again the students from America got to their choice college while the others didn't, which means we are doing fine juggling sports, friends, and school unlike the other two countries from the movie.
Hunter said i think that many american people are struggling in school and some don't care, while chinese and india are working there hardest to where the can become engineers and everything else to become great things. But i think americans should start working harder so they can get good jobs instead of reling on other things to get a goood living. Also people shouldn't be stressed out and all worked up on school and stufff they should be able to do stuff with friends and play sports and just have fun insteaed of doing homework and being all stressed out.
Ok, so I think that 2 million minutes was ok! Im sorry but... DUDE we don't need to worry about "who's most popular." I have a life and I would rather not be studying the WHOLE time. I want to go shopping and hang out! I mean it is good to study but not 24/7. I forget which one but one wanted to be an engineer and his sister was doing the same thing. I would rather not feel like a copy-cat and always come home talking about the same thing that my sister is talking about similar stuff.
In my opinion, this isnt really a crisis. SOME people... some being the operative word, do need to try a little harder, but not 24/7!
-Kaley♥
I think that the reason the other student try harder is because they have a couple of options and if they pick school than they no how it important it is so they do the best they can and put mostly all their time into studying here in america we have alot of oppurtinities to do stuff. And the kids in america dont take it seriously enough
This movie left a big impression on me. I made me think very hard and long. The movie felt like the U.S.A doesn't have that competitive edge. Oooh, that is so bad! AMericans don't need a competitive edge, nor do they need to go to school longer.Hey, we might not be as devoted to our education, we have lives other than it. But consider this. Didn't you notice that the Chinese and Indian kid didn't make it to the college of their choice? Well, we Americans do have lives while the Indian and Chinese kids only had a little time to have fun.
We Americans have the freedom to do whatever we choose, well almost whatever. But I felt this movie was trying to belittle America. We survived pretty well, even though we had to make changes, but it was within reason.
I agree with Nathan that this movie was to motivate us, but also did you notice that the foreign kids studied three times harder than the Americans and still didn't get into the college of their choice. Although the Americans used their time much more poorly and still got into their colleges. I think the that school board needs to raise the bar a bit and up the standards of the schools in America. This is a global competition whether you wan to admit it or not, and we are falling behind in the race. Its time we put more effort into our studies and get back in the race. Now some of you will think yes of course people with good grades would say that but its all there, look at the facts we are falling behind and soon it might be to late for us to catch up. Now I love fun as much as the next kid and it doesn't mean we have do give it up and become hermits. A lot of our careers in America deal in sports and is considered a stable job. People in China or India don't have that sort of choice though so they choose to do their best and try to excel in everything they do to be a success in life. But we really need to start managing our time more wisely with this skill America will go far. A wise woman once told me “Organization is the key to life!” oh guys im sorry its so long once i started i just kinda got inspired and started rambling. tell me what you think...
Sam - Like we discussed in class, it may be easy to misunderstand what happened near at the end of the film. While it is true that the Indian and Chinese students did not get into their preferred schools or programs, the were also shooting for the very best schools available (Yale, IIT, etc.). The American students did also get into good schools - Purdue and Indiana Universities - but they were not shooting for Yale or schools like it.
Remember, this is an academic activity. Make sure we show that in our writing.
I think in a nut-shell this IS a crisis. Americans always here the Government and citizens complaining about not having jobs, but that's a big reason right there! If you were hired to build a bridge who would be hired? The smarter person! I thonk we do need to turn it around and have longer school hours and less t.v. time. I don't want this, but the fact that Mr. Veliz stated about possibly living in a lower standard than our paerents is frightening. I'd rather spend a couple more hours at school than be living in a dumpster. Although I also don't think we can do it right away. It needs to be done, but slowly and effectively. Every year we should add about 30 minutes to the school day until we reach or exceed the standards of other countries. I hope we can turn it around!
I thought that the movie was sort of boring. It's true that we should start putting more time into school work and not so much in video games but i would rather have a life than just be in school. People should spend more time in school and school work but should also do what they like to do.
the little clip was cool, i cant believe how indian people are so smart, that they have more honor kids than we have kids!! thats unbelievable! anyway two million minutes i think is a motivation for us that we are being beat, there are more people out there way smarter than us!! we should just focus more thats all, its not that were stupid, we just spend our time differently!
I think that Americans A.R.E still better than the Indian and Chinese people. China is the most populated country in the world. They are going to have more students in school. Notice how the movie ONLY mentioned Enginnering. (I know I speeled it wrong) What about other types of jobs. Americans have lifes. They do something besides school. All people are different. China and India are being rule by something or somebody! Us Americans have more common sense than them. We live in a FREE COUNTRY! Showing that we know what we are doing. Sure India and China have smart people but we have active people that play sports and have fun. In the movie I didn't think those kids were exited about school.I think they are being FORCED to do things they don't want to do. I think America is perfectlly fine.
I had to think constantly about the movie. I realized it IS a crisis. The next invention in the future would most likely be invented by the Chinese or Indians in the U.S.A. I still belive that the U.S.A. can catch up with the the Indians and Chinese.
Also in the video it said that one million internet inventions were invented by 2008. That shows that we've came very far ever since 1984.
allie:
This is a little bit like the global warming crisis, some beleive it is a crisis and some just think its bogus (hehehe bogus) anyway i for 1 beleive it is a crisis and honestly its not a very hard crisis 2 fix its mostly just laziness and a lack of motivation and i kno some students r saying "its just becase we hav lives and they dont" and i honestly think the people who say that r offened a little bit bcuz they kno its tru and its the quickest excuse 2 make up!!! and this is just me but i thought the video was very inspiring and presents us with a challenge!!!!!
I agree with Malik. Even though we aren't that educated when it comes to the Chinese, we can still change over the next few years. But that might mean that there will be more hours in the school and more studying time.
Besides, we waste a lot of time doing what most adults think is "rotting our brains," like Call of Duty (awesome!!)or t.v. However, what do you think is usually on video games and television? War. America is more corcerned about destroying terrorism than our education. Do you see China at war? You see, we learn a lot by simple, teenage stuff like games, internet, or shows and that the U.S.A. will never be the same.
I completely agree with Nathan H. and Michael, but I really don't think of this as a crisis. All of those kids in america who don't study or skip their homework have determination problems. That's their fault. We can't tell everyone that there's a crisis out there when actually there are many people who are determined. Those people almost always graduate college, and the only reason we have less graduatses is because some people don't decide to go to college. It's their fault. There is no crisis. All you have to do is fix the determination problems and we're fine.
I think that it is to the american students greatest advantage that we have pretty much the best colleges here in America, so that we wouldn't have to get a higher grade point average to go to a good college like those of other countries coming here. And I think we dont have to study as much compared to those of other countries such as China and India. That is why we can be more active and do more activities like sports then those students of other countries. And we can get more rest because some of the sudents of other countries talked about staying up until 12:00pm studying and then wake up at roughly 5:30am for breakfast and then study secions.
i doesnt really even matter whether u guys think its a crisis or not bcuz either way they r getting ahead of us and 1 day we might acually b under chinese or indian rule and thers no "i told u so" bcuz then it wont even matter wat side u wer on!!!!!!!!
why do us Americanos want to make us fell better by making the excuse that Chinese and Indians dont have freedom, that is not true, they are more motivated than us because the want to win. We want to be handed everything.
P.S. Kommentar, wenn Sie wollen, aber Vorsicht.
I think the reason that people think the americans are behind is because we are all held to a higher standard. We fought a war and made our own country and let people move here and basically we rule the world. so if people of higher power are held to higher standards, then we might be doing just as well as india and china but since they dont have as much power as us they arent focused on as much. also, all americans are extremely different from eachother. the video said that a lot of chinese in 1,000,000 are alike and if all americans are different and my last idea was wrond, maybe some americans are smarter than the chinese and indias. I DO NOT LIKE THAT THE AMERICAN STEREOTYPE IS STUPID AND LAZY!!!!!
And if some americans are lazy, it's not a crisis! IT'S THEIR FAULT!!!!
I agree with Joseph that this IS a crisis and we need to deal with it buts if we do it is more than likely going to happen over time. If any government officials or school board members are reading this LISTEN UP! I mean I know we can't spell sometimes but this is important and having a teenager’s opinion is good because the change is going to affect us the most! I also agree with Mr. Veliz that the American students made it to the colleges of their choice but they did not reach for the stars and apply for the really really good schools. We need to raise the bar a bit and not fall behind in the race. I know there are a ton of students that work their little fingers to the bone trying to pass classes but the truth is one bad apple ruins the bunch. And in America we have a bunch of bad apples and they outnumber the really good apples that are working really hard. We need to apply ourselves more and not be so out of it.
To me, this isnt really a crisis. Sure, we're lower than all of the china and asia kids, but we're doing just fine. We need to enjoy life, make the best of it. Yeah, we need to study but not ALL the time! And we dont really need that many school hours like the Asian kids.
I think people should be able to get good grades and have fun because its would be a waste of a life if we studyed almost everday every hour and never had fun.
I think that we just need to spend more time studying and planning things ahead of time so that we can do a little each day. But the people who said that we SHOULD ENJOY life are right because if you don't have any fun then nobody around you will have fun.
Sure us Amerikaner are held to a higher standard, but why...
All with this 2 Million Minutes what about 33 Minutes.
I recomend you google it, interesting stuff.
To help us Amerikanerne, would a nice lady like Miss Margret Thatcher, British prime minister, would say America is freedom's last hope if we were numbskulls, give it a tink.
I think the movie was okay. We should study, but not all day long. The video made us Americans look like we where uneducated and not interested in learning. The Americans that don't care about education, they're just lazy and don't want to do anything in their life. In today's world, you have to complete college in order to succeed in life. In addition, I think Americans should be accepted in college in our country before other students from other countries are accepted. Americans are just as capable of learning as students from other countries.
If you look at the big picture then you would understand. People are saying that the China and African kids didn't make their college, but if you read it, it said. Did the other kids set their goals too high and ours too low? The Chinese kid wanted to go to a school where about only 5,000 people can go. Think about that. If you LOVE sports and stuff you won't be able to BUY a T.V. in the future if all the jobs are taken by smarter people. So if you really love something you have to work for it and not rely on your parents
My thoughts on this,
this is just plain sad
America needs to open its eyes and its academics. This is no longer a competition in America, it is a compition in the world (as stated in the movie). This is a crisis that needs to be delt with immediatly! Imagine an Chinese and an American student swapping schools (after learning the langauge of course) but the American would fall behind and the Chinese would advance as most likly in the top 10 in the class. Students in america are falling behind, education is falling behind, but most of all America is falling behind. And this is very unsettling.
it doesnt even matter if theres a crisis or not bcuz if we dont pick up the pace wer gonna get left behind and stomped all over!
......33 minutes......
oooOOOOOooooHHHHhhhhhhHHHH....
Mac. It's not a crisis. You said it yourself. IT'S A COMPETITION! Simple as that. All of those people who never went to cllege or were held back many times did that becaus they weren't motivated. I'm not sure how, but if we can get them to go to college, we're back in the competition. End of Story.
If a whole country is not motivated and rather be at the movies, is still a compition, give it a tink.
I think the film posed a very good point. Americans might be lazier than Chinese or Indian students, but we are good at other things like sports and other extra-curricular activities. We do need to stop worrying about being first in the world. I think the point of the movie was to motivate us to work harder, but I don't ever think its going to happen.
I think that American children have the abilities to accomplish the things that the Indian and Chinese students are accomplishing, probably more. I feel that all the students should have some time to play sports and be with family and or friends but not slack off on their responsibilities of school.The American students have accomplished much as it is but could take more time to study but not over study like the Indian and Chinese students do. The Indian and Chinese students, i feel, over study and have no personal,social, active, nor family time. There for i think the American students are going to be well rounded people and most likely achieve in a job that requires social,personal, and active abilities.
~Jarrett Leigh Mullins(:
We Americans should really have some sort of technic to study more than playing video games all the time. We Americans are falling behind a little bit each day and one day we are going to be so behind that we won't be albe to catch up. When that day comes people are going to be saying oh look at the Americans they're so behind and to think we used to look up to them and wished that we wanted their kind of education.
We really need to focus on our studies. It will really pay off when you have a job and your salary is like 50,000 dollars per month and you go to work every three to four days a week. Now if we just not study then your past in high school will get back at you if we don't study.
Video Games are just a small part of American life, not the whole thing. The American STEREO TYPE is stupid and lazy but even the stereo type doesnt make up most of the population. There are very few people who just play video games and nothing else. I play video games but thats not everything I do. I ride my bike, I dive, I do school work and then after all of that I play video games or watch T.V. VIDEO GAMES AND T.V. ARE NOT EVERYTHING!!!
At first when I finished watching the film, 2 million minutes I felt as if I really was lazy and stupid. But, once I started thinking about it a little deeper, I decided that people from China and India were studying far too much. I don't think that people should study 24/7 and they should leave time for fun and joy in their lives, other wise they will be miserable. If I took a survey at this moment, I'm pretty sure that the results will conclude that the vast majority of people from America, India, China and people all over the world would say that studying is not joyful or fun. In fact, they would probably agree that studying is quite boring. I am not saying that people should never study. Of course everyone needs to study for their tests and classes. I also think that students need to earn good grades, get A's and B's, and strive for a successful job and future. As the film informed me that people from China and India, struggle day to day from poverty. Some people in other countries are very motivated to get a good education because they want to get out of the situation that they are in now. I totally understand this and think that this is a great motivation for them, but I still don't think that these kids should have to devote their lives to studying and leave no extra time for themselves to relax or even simply have fun. I think that this issue is a small crisis because Americans are looked down upon because we don't study all the time. We as Americans have many freedoms that some other people don't have. I think some Americans can be lazy at times. We don't have to struggle for food therefore we don't have a big motivation behind getting a good education besides the fact that we need a good job and successful future. Americans also have lots of distractions such as computers, cellphones, video games, television, etc. This can be a problem at times because we find ourselves straying away from education and being distracted. Although this is a small crisis I still think that the terrorist crisis is much more important. I think this crisis should be dealt with before this education crisis. The terrorist crisis is a difference between life and death!
I agree with Gabby, the Chinese and Indian students do study too much and need to make time for fun and sports. That doesn't mean Americans don't have to do anything, though. We do need to kick it up a couple notches on education. I think that if we really tried, we could catch up with China and India, but that could take a couple of years. I do think we could have that level of education, though. The Chinese and Indians also go to school more. If I can remember, they go for the regular school year plus about half of our summer. They also go for like 10 hours a day and on Saturdays. This gives them a pretty good advantage. Also, the foreign students are better connected with their families, which is another thing that keeps them motivated, unlike the Americans.
Brendan it is a crisis, and a competition. china and India are much more advanced than the Americans in almost every way shape and form. This is a crisis because
A. China/India will soon take all the American jobs based on education
and B. you said if the people were motivated and went to college we would be back in the competition yeah about that
ITS NOT HAPPENING!!!
I think that mac made a good point about the crisis but I don't think that it is a very good crisis. I also believe that American students may need to study more and be more involved in their education. I also agree with Sarah that we may need to step it up a few notches to compete with china and India.
the average big corp exec. makes 10000$ in his first hour on the job, that maore than most families making 6 months
I think that there is sometwhat of a crisis because we are falling behind educationally. But you also have to put this inot perspective, because people in China and India are so caught up in school they have no life. They have no time for fun or just time to relax. THERE IS MORE TO LIFE THAN SCHOOL, LIKE LIFE ITSELF! Yes we Americans do need to pick up the slack, but no we dont need to devote our life to it. We, as Americans, have to learn how to be multi-Tasker. (P.s. Sorry my blog was late, as you know I have had alot going on this week with my brother being in the hospital and history fair going on so the blogging just slipped my mined.) :)
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