Technology Videos S/R Response

Karl Fisch, in his video “Did You Know?” depicts how American students will be the future leaders of our country, but are behind other countries educationally.

In Karl Fisch’s video “Did You Know?”, he accurately portrays the change needed to occur in the United States education systems, if America wants to innovate and challenge other countries educationally and technologically. As the video begins the words “did you know?” flash across the screen which are then followed by the fact, “China has more honors kids than America has kids”(Fisch, “Did”). Right off the bat, Karl Fisch utilizes this fact to prove that students in the United States are educationally behind one of the most potent challengers to the United States, China. If America is to challenge China in the future, it will have to ramp up education so that their are more honors students who can eventually help invent innovative technology. In Dr. Michael Wesch’s video “A Vision of Students Today” students in a regular college class hold up signs, beginning with two stating, “My average class size is 115,” “18% of my teachers know my name”(Wesch, “A Vision”). Dr. Michael Wesch is trying to convey that most college classes are more about quantity rather than quality of work. As average class sizes grow bigger, teachers are not able to give students the one on one attention they deserve to grow and learn as a student who could potentially become an innovator for the future. If students’ education continues to lack in quality, then America will not be able to, according to Fisch and Wesch, “move ahead” of other countries and challenge them.

Bully S/R

Lee Hirsch, in his documentary “Bully” depicts society’s choice to ignore bullying and let children keep being harmed mentally and physically. Many times throughout the documentary, we can see how the administrators don’t seem as if they will be helping stop bullying, and through this, Hirsch is trying to convey that kids need to learn how to stand up for themselves. It may be hard to stand up to the bullies but by backing down the victims are just giving the bullies more power. In Alex’s case he never stood up for himself and was bullied to the point where he started to not feel anything anymore and started to feel like he was not even being bullied. Along with standing up for themselves, kids also need to tell their parents if they’re being bullied. It’s evident that if the administration is not helping prevent bullying and informing families about the bullying, then the victims need to speak up. Speaking about bullying may be tough but it is one way that will help inform parents of the situation since they can’t necessarily rely on the school for help. Hirsch is not only demonstrating that kids need to speak up about bullying but about everything that may cause problems. Without the help of the administration it makes it that much more important to come together as a community. As Tyler’s dad said, “Everything starts with one and builds up. There was a time when bullying started with just one person, but Hirsch illustrates that starting with one and building up, bullying can be conquered. If people but their will together, they can rise above the bullies and school administrations and defeat bullying once and for all. Society can continue to ignore bullying, but bullying will be conquered.

In Lee Hirsch’s documentary “Bully”, he accurately and vividly portrays how bullying is becoming an ignored worldwide epidemic. Bullying is a disease and it has no chance of being cured, especially when school administrators are saying, “boys will be boys.” At the meeting in Georgia where Tyler Long’s parents and the administrators from the school district attend, one of the administrators nonchalantly dismisses bullying and says, "boys will be boys." With the quick dismissal that boys in the the school district are bullying, the administrator has basically supported and justified that it's okay to bully others. What’s worse is no one from Murray County, Georgia(Tyler’s hometown) attended this meeting. In the town where bullying was a prominent feature, no one had enough guts to admit that bullying occurred in that school and was the reason that Tyler Long took his life. The denial and dismissal of bullying occurs not only in Murray County, Georgia but also in Alex's hometown Sioux City, Iowa. After footage of bullying on the bus is shown to Alex's parents, they bring it upon themselves to talk with the assistant principal. As the assistant principal utters the first few words you think she’s going to admit there’s bullying, but she succumbs and proceeds to say, “They(the students) are just as good as gold,” but they’re only good as gold because she was on the bus and she never experienced what it’s like to be Alex and to get bullied. In another instance, as the school day is ending, the assistant principal is standing by the window watching the children board the bus and she says, “There go my little cherubs.” It’s sickening to hear her call them her little cherubs when she doesn’t do anything to stop bullying. If anything she promotes it, as seen in the instance with Cole where he refuses to shake the bully’s hand, but then she says, “You’re just like him Cole. By not shaking his hand you’re just like him.” These students are not her cherubs, they are her puppets that she controls with the ignorant words that spill out of her mouth. If administrators and society choose to keep ignoring bullying, according to Hirsch, bullying will never be cured and more children may lose their lives.