I recently watched this youtube clip called 2 Million Minutes, on another blog. This clip is simply the trailor for a documentary. This documentary is focusing on our Education system in the United States and possibly could instead be talking about our economic system. It is looking at how important education is in today's World Economy. One book I recently read was called, The World Is Flat, ...suggests the world is "flat" in the sense that globalization has leveled the competitive playing fields between industrial and emerging market countries.
The April 1983 government report “A Nation at Risk*” warned us that if we didn’t improve math and science education in the U.S. we would be at risk of falling behind our global competitors. Having reached the twenty-fifth anniversary of the report, a provocative new documentary film, Two Million Minutes, vividly reveals that American students are no longer “at risk” of falling behind -- they are now clearly behind even Third World students in India and China, in addition to being in 24th place among developed countries.
You will spend 2 million minutes in high school. How will you use your minutes? Watch this clip and think about the effort you give high school, homework, and listening and working in class.
21 comments:
That video is a real eye opener. Americans always think we are the greater country, but obviously in education we are falling behind. Most American teenagers worry about what they are doing after school, than the classes during the school day. It is scary to think that lower, third world countries may be passing the united states in education.
It was not too long ago that I realized that by the time I get into the market for jobs after college that there will be some extreme competition for countries such as China and India. It really does not surprise me that the United States is falling behind in the terms of eductation. For some reason, students do not feel the need that school is important and they just blow it off. My 2 million minutes will be mostly spent trying to achieve so I can be competition to those people in other countries.
I can understand how we are falling behind.
Compared to other countries; many kids in Asia and Europe go to school for 9 hours then come home and do 4 hours of homework. We seem to be doing less work and spending less time on school.
This doesn't surprise me that the U.S. is falling behind other countries in education. When I'm at school, I notice so many students that don't do their work and that slack. Either they don't care or they are lazy or something, but no matter what the reason, it's giving other competing countries the advantage. I'll be spending my 2 million minutes working hard because I know with the way the economy is right now, skill and education are very important.
This doesn't surprise me at all. At school you always see people that don't pay attention in class or don't do their homework or they're getting their homework from a friend and copying it at lunch. In countries like India or China education is a big thing that is taken seriously. One of the guys from India was saying that education isn't something that you do along with something else, it's either education and nothing else or no education. I think this shows why Americans are having a hard time finding jobs because kids in other countries make their education worker harder that we do. We slack and procrastinate so much that we never really give our best for things related to school.
The video is completely understandable. In my opinion, it's completely evident that today's youth are caring less and less about education. Like Farzana said, I walk into a classroom or sit down at a lunch table and see many many people copying answers from someone else. It's really shocking to know that in a matter of 25 years, American students have gone from being "at risk" to being in 24th place among developed countries and behind some Third World students in India and China.
This video really puts things into perspective for you. It show you that America is constantly falling gbehind in education, and small countries such as China are passing us up when it comes to education. It is really a new idea for a lot of people.
There are some people in the United States that do take their time seriously. They are normally the people who were pushed as children by their parents or gaurdians. A lot of Americans are like the video described them. They have too much time on their hands.
I fully understand this video, because a lot of us americans don't really take our education seriously.Sometimes you see people copying down other people's work, or fooling around in class. I take my education seriously even though I may not even get the grades I want too all the time, but I try cause I know that is what's gonna get you somewhere in life your education.
I think this video shows us that the American work ethic is cleary just not as strong as other countries' work ethics. The video is exactly right, we value our time differently than these other countries, which shows in our strive for success.
The majority of America is just plain old lazy. People would rather spend time at home playing video games or watching t.v. People have to much time and have no clue on how to use it. Take me for example: I could have finished my summer homework with all the hours I spent staying up late and sleeping in. But no, I wait until summer is over to start working. Time management and working hard is not taken strongly in the U.S. and it shows.
I agree with the video that Americans are falling behind in education. Most teenagers in America are more focused on being popular and having friends to hang out with instead of focusing on education. In other countries, where they are not so fortunate as we are, take advantage of their free time and learn more about things that interest them. This way they are becoming more educated. By doing so, they are making the competition for jobs harder than ever. After viewing this video I hope to become more focused on my education instead of my social life.
This is something that has been happening for a while now. American kids are more worried about being the center of attention or being "cool" than what they are about school work or grades. That doesn’t apply to everyone but does to a big number of American students. Another reason could be that we are always told how amazing our country is. So some of us start thinking that we don't need to do anything to improve it. These kids in those countries grow up knowing that they have to excel us in anyway possible. While they are doing all they can to be more than 100% good. We are sitting on a couch watching TV or talking on the phone. One other reason could be that we see movies that instead of sending positive messages send out all but that. Like I said before this does not apply to everyone but it dose to a lot of people. In the long run this is going to turn out bad for us in many ways in jobs, economy, overall everything.
That is really embarrassing that America is falling behind third world countries in education. The schools here in America give students the classes they need for a higher education, like AP and Honors, yet its the student who decides if they want to take those classes seriously. Most American students just want to go through school without "breaking a sweat." There are kids complaining on writing two page essays, that they don't realize there are kids their age writing twice as much, if not more. It seems as though the students in third world countries know if they don't work hard or "break a sweat", they know they will not succeed in life. That is why China and India will be extreme competition when it comes to job markets. American students need to focus less on whats happening after school and more on whats going on in the classroom if they want to have a successful future.
I know I will be spending my 2 million minutes wisely. I just don't know when Americas will do the same.
Education is important, I've been told that all my life. However, you can also push people too far by obsessing with. I always tried as hard as I could in school. But when I got to highschool it didn't seem as important because most of us work really hard on our assignments just so some bum can try to come copy it. That may sound harsh but it's the truth. I started trying really hard again about halfway through last year. I still make good grades, I just don't understand why people don't want to educate themselves. Most intelligent people are very attractive and people tend to want to be smart but nobody tries anymore because they're too distracted with things that appear to be more important like cell phones and relationships. But they're more than likely not going to help you get into college and they're definitely not helping out the United States's education status.
Honestly this is a scary situation. This video has showed me that America really needs to step up their game. I did have an idea that other countries were catching up to us but I had no idea they were right on our tails. A lot of American's are lazy. And more and more generations are getting worse. We are not using our time as wisely as we should and that will come back to haunt us if we dont change our ways quickly.
Watching that video really scared me. It made me realize how much our country is in danger. I didn't know that the education here was that bad. Now that I do know, I am going to take school alot more serious. I don't want to grow up and not be able to get a job because someone from China or India are smarter than me. Its also scary that third world countries may be the same or higher than the US in education!
I hate when people say that they want to go to Ohio Universtiy because it is a party school or when you ask someone where they want to go they say they don't care as long as it has good partys. I mean seriously. This is the rest of your life you are talking about not just fun. America kind of reminds me of the popular girl or guy in school that is more worried about their looks than how they are doing in it. Just like other nations are worried about maximizing thier oppturnitys we are just out having fun becuause we just think about the present. How much time do we actually spend learning a day. I bet at least an hour a day is wasted not learning anything because of disruptive students or teachers not doing what they are supposed to and things like that. I know home schooled students that got done in 3 hours what we get done in 7 hours. One day we all will regret the choices we made when we in high school but the question is just how much you will regret.
This is something that i have known about for a long time that America is very lazy when it comes to education. This is the exact reason I take the higher level classes. So that one day when I have to compete with these higher education people on a world wide scale I can still compete. Nothing should come easy especially being the best.
this really did blow my mind! I had absolutely no idea we were in any type of competition in education with other countries! To see how hard these other countries are working and how fast they learn, makes me feel like I'm really behind. We do work but do it to pass, we do not work 1/4 as hard as they seem to work! It makes me a little disappointed in my country when I sit here and listen to someone saying that we have it easy and it looks like a dream at the rate we work. Americans really need to step their game up if they want to be known as the best!
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