2 million minutes

The video...woah. Though I had seen it before, I wasn't thinking about it in the same way this time. The bias presented in the documentary was extremely powerful. American students were made out to be kids who don't even try, yet succeed in our world, and students in China and India, who study non stop and have ridiculous expectations put on them by their parents and selves fail to get ahead. This opinion was portrayed throughout the entire video. The American students were rarely shown in a classroom setting, and when they were, it was informal and unorganized. They were primarily shown in social situations that made them appear lazy when it comes to school. On the other side of things, the Chinese and Indian students were shown in disciplined, and organized learning environments and rarely having fun. There is no way that these two extreme situations occur all the time. The middle ground and "average" students and situations were not given a place in the documentary. This definitely affects people's opinions and sheds negative light on the American education system. I'm not saying that the entire video was wrong and American schooling is flawless. Reform is definitely needed, but the video makes it seem so extreme based on the situations it shows, and the ones it doesn't. While we do need some regulation here in America due to the unbalanced system, where minorities and the lower class fall through the cracks, many students are still successful. In addition to academic success, American students are well rounded. They focus their attention on other things and basically have lives outside of school. As an American student I like to think of myself as well rounded. I like to socialize and don't devote every minute of my spare time to studying, but I would be offended if someone told me that I didn't take school seriously, was lazy and didn't try. I work hard to earn the grades that I do, and I think it's unfair to compare two completely different cultures based on the experiences and opinions of six students.
Overall, I don't think the techniques used in the video were very effective. Yes, I was a little taken aback and thought "wow, they're really smart and our schools should try to be more like that if we want to succeed", but the bias to the extreme that it was was offputting. It became annoying, because the kids in India have no idea what it's like to live in America and the pressures that are put on us as well, just like we have no idea what it's like to be a student in India. While the creators of the video do make some valid points, the way they went about making them was not effective, at least for me and was seriously annoying.