By Adriana Ungerleider, ’12, Contributor
UPDATE: The dinner and showing of Two Million Minutes has been moved to Monday, March 8 due to inclement weather.
On the evening of Tuesday, Feb. 16, CCDS will present Two Million Minutes: Calculating the Educational Divide, a documentary about how teenagers around the world spend their high school years. The presentation is free to all members of the community, and Upper School students are encouraged to attend.
A dinner will be served in the Dining Terrace at 6 p.m., followed by a screening of the hour-long documentary beginning at 7 p.m. in the Keeler Theater. To RSVP to the event, use this Evite link.
View the trailer:
The documentary compares and contrasts how students in China, India and the United States spend the roughly two million minutes of their four years of high school, hence the title. Two high-achieving students from each country, a boy and a girl, share and discuss their experiences both in and out of school. They are each considering well-known colleges, and several have already received scholarship offers.
High school education has a clear effect on a country’s economy: better-educated students are more likely to become entrepreneurs, make scientific discoveries, etc., contributing to the overall strength of a nation. Executive Producer Robert Compton said he feels that American students do not use their “two million minutes” as efficiently as children in other countries. For example, ninth graders in India take approximately 15 classes, as opposed to the average 6 taken by Americans. However, American students in advanced classes reported more stress and pressure to succeed.
Compton said he thinks there are pros and cons to any educational strategy, but that American students need to be pushed beyond their comfort zone in classes and coursework. Students with more rigorous academic schedules will inevitably have less time for community and personal activities.
“It’s crucial that we find that balance between hard work and time for extracurricular activities,” said Head of School Dr. Robert Macrae.
Two Million Minutes does not dismiss the issue of leading a well-rounded life. In addition to shadowing students at school, the documentary covers their home lives and social activities. The students are interviewed about the pressures they feel both in and out of the classroom, and how they plan their activities to create a well-rounded college application.
Two Million Minutes has earned a controversial reputation for its critical view of the American education system, but that was a risk that Robert Compton said he was willing to take. He feels that education in the United States focuses on “the average level” rather than “world class excellence.”
Dr. Macrae said that he found the documentary to be “controversial and thought provoking … definitely something that educators and students should think about.”
Photo courtesy of Indiana University School of Education.