Race to Nowhere: Open Discussion on Education

race

A colleague of mine sent me the following link Race to Nowhere Trailer to watch the trailer for the documentary “Race to Nowhere”. While watching the trailer, I saw some issues that have come up in recent discourse with higher education and K-12 professionals regarding pressures placed on K-12 and especially 7th-12th grade students by the government and colleges to be a “near perfect” student in order to succeed in an education system that is broken and yields very little promises for a successful future upon completing college….Though I have been discussing and debating my beliefs and thoughts regarding these issues frequently for the last couple of years, I wanted to put this out there to see what others think…

Is our education system in the country truly broken? If so, why? If not, why not? Is the federal or state government responsible for the improvements? What part does higher education (colleges) play? If you have some thoughts, please share….

 

TV great for White Boys, and no one else

from Science Daily:
In a study conducted by Nicole Martins, an assistant professor of telecommunications in the IU College of Arts and Sciences, and Kristen Harrison, professor of communication studies at the University of Michigan, it was found that

“Regardless of what show you’re watching, if you’re a white male, things in life are pretty good for you,” Martins said of characters on TV. “You tend to be in positions of power, you have prestigious occupations, high education, glamorous houses, a beautiful wife, with very little portrayals of how hard you worked to get there.

This should come as no surprise to anyone but white boys, because they are as oblivious to their own position in the states as anyone, its just one of those things that is just right in their minds. They are the best, the greatest and things are supposed to be good for them, and anything else is an attack on the natural order of things.
I’ve read many times that TV is more detrimental to black kids, all they see themselves as is pimps, hoes, athletes, asshole rappers, or thugs, criminals, insatiable sexual objects or the noble slave. I can’t even think of something that’s on daily that actually reflects Blacks in a positive light, where they are in positions of power, with the same kinds of problems as “normal” people have. If they are on TV, they are very far and few in between, and they don’t last more than a season.
Still this is an interesting read, and should be more than enough to urge Black and Brown parents (and also parents of female children, but that’s a whole other story) to turn off the television and find more constructive ways to entertain the kids. But not video games, because according to many studies they are often more discriminatory and racist than tv.