Media Shapes Perception of Education

Film

Urban: Dangerous Minds, John N. Smith

The film takes place in an inner-city high school in East Palo Alto, California. The streets are dangerous, full of violence and drugs. I saw this film when I was about ten years old. This film certainly put the stereotypes of urban schools being dark, dangerous, and scary. Similar to my perception of urban high schools, the students in this film are poor, angry minorities who are violent drug users and caught up in gang life. They do not show respect, and are lost in street-life. LouAnne Johnson’s character is an inspirational teacher who finds ways to connect to her students by changing her teaching methods. Johnson changes her teaching style by wearing a leather jacket, teaching karate, and teaching poetry using Bob Dylan’s lyrics. Johnson is also a mentor to these students by guiding them through tough decisions.

Suburban: Breakfast Club, John Hughes

This film takes place in a suburban middle-upper class high school. The viewer can tell this is a wealthy high school because it has a nice library, a football team, and the hallways look new and clean. I assume that the community is predominately white, because all of the students are white. The main characters are five high school students of all different stereotypes (the criminal, the princess, the brain, the athlete, and the basket case) who meet in detention and get to know one another on a very personal level. They discover that they all have more in common than they thought. This reminds me of my high school years because I came from a very large school with many different “cliques.” I never fit into one click as an adolescent because I was a part of a few different stereotypes: I played sports (the athlete), was an art student (the basket case), and did well in school (the brain). The principle is a power hungry man, who gets pleasure from seeing students suffer. This was my perception of my principle when I was in middle school, and I was scared of him.

Rural: Varsity Blues, Brian Robbins

This film takes place in a small-town Texas high school where high-school football is a religion. There is a lot of pressure from the people in the community for the football team to do well. I can see elements of this movie into my own stereotypes of rural communities; the rural south is undereducated and their priorities are far different than the coasts.’ Football is more important than school and grades and it is all these boys know. The ball players also learn to face the fame and pressures that come along with football, girls, popularity, etc. I feel sorry for kids who are uneducated. Their hometown lives are all these kids will ever know. As role models for these boys more emphasis is put on the coaches rather than the teachers. The coach has his ethics mixed up; he is verbally abusive control freak, and all he cares about is winning. This film is an example of my perception that mid-western and southern states revolve their lives around sports, not education.

Music

Urban: Coolio, “Gansta’s Paradise”

This song was part of the soundtrack for the film, Dangerous Minds. I assume that the artist is discussing a personal story or one from the point of view from an urban adolescent. The street life is the “community” in this song. The singer says that he has received some kind of education, but not good enough to keep him off the streets, “So I gotta be down with the 'hood team, Too much television watching, got me chasing dreams. I'm an educated fool with money on my mind, Got my ten in my hand and a gleam in my eye.” I picture an African American young high school or post-high school-aged kid who is constantly running from the police, drug dealing, and committing other types of crime. The teachers obviously did not have a powerful impact on this young man, “I’m an educated fool.” When I think of inner-city adolescents in the media I usually do not picture them to be well educated.

Suburban: Vitamin C, “Graduation (Friends Forever)”

The listener can assume this is based on a suburban school; “Will the past be a shadow that will follow us 'round? Will these memories fade when I leave this town?” This song came out during my senior year in high school and reminds me of my youth because I went to a large, suburban high school. The song represents the stereotypical moments of high school; “Will we still remember everything we learned in school? Still be trying to break every single rule. Will little brainy Bobby be the stockbroker man? Can Heather find a job that won't interfere with her tan?” The song does not discuss the teachers, but obviously the experiences that the singer shares are pleasant and will be missed. Relating this song with my high school experience, there were many great memories of teachers that I miss.

Rural: Loretta Lynn, Coal Miner’s Daughter

The community that Loretta Lynn lived in was a small town called Butcher Hollar. Everyone who lived there was poor, and her father was obviously a coal miner. I believe during this time survival was important, not education. Loretta had little to no education, and left her town at the age of thirteen. By the age of 17 she was married with a large family. Her teachers were her life experiences, the people she met, and the struggles she had. The lesson I take from the story is that hard work and determination can take you far, but these kinds of stories are few and far between.

Television

Urban: Family Matters

This show was based in inner-city Chicago. This was an African-American, middle class family who lived in an African-American neighborhood. Watching this sitcom as a child gave me the impression that most people who lived in cities were African-American. Laura Winslow (the oldest daughter) was a smart, straight-A student who had the goal of going to Harvard Law School. Eddie Winslow (the son) is a smart boy, but he only performed average in school. This family was similar to my own; the girls in my house were straight-A students while my brother was an average student. As a child I thought girls were smarter than boys. I don’t recall episodes that involved teachers, but it is interesting how this family was not “perfect.”

Suburban: Boy Meets World

The high school’s exists in a suburban community of middle class white people. Cory’s family and school life are perfect for the most part. I watched this show almost every Friday night, and I enjoyed it because it resembled my life as a kid. The main characters, Cory Matthews, Sean Hunter, and Topanga Lawrence, are the best of friends. Each character has their own unique personality; Cory and Sean struggle to keep out of trouble and to stay focused in class, Topanga is very smart and always does well in school, and Minkus is the brain of the class. George Feeny, Cory’s high-school principle and next-door neighbor, has a special relationship with Cory. Mr. Feeny acts like a mentor more than a teacher to Cory, Sean, and Topanga throughout their adolescents. Another teacher, whose name escapes me, is also a friend to the boys so much so that he takes Sean under his custody temporarily. These two male teachers represent how teachers should treat their students. The teachers find comical ways to connect with the mischievous teens.

Rural: Little House on the Prairie

This show takes place during the 1870s in Minnesota. The community is so small that everyone knows everyone, and everyone knows everything about everyone. I watched this show as a child and believed that life must have been so hard back than. The students were extremely obedient during class and never talked back. I remember Laura’s parents always making sure that Laura and Mary did their homework before bedtime. Of course, the students/children back than still dealt with similar pressures and dramas of the lives of children today. Education was very important to this community and Laura Ingalls became a kind-hearted and caring teacher.

News

Urban: 4/22/08, CBS: “Shock Over Student Gun Deaths: In This School Year Alone, 24 Students Were Killed, Leaving City Rattled To The Core”

Ignorant people turn a blind eye and say, “That will never happen to my kid. Most of the victims are poor and black.” I’m sure the students are always on the lookout for violent behaviors. I can only hope that the teachers are doing the best they can to keep the students safe, and to teach them how to be book smart and street smart as well.

Suburban: Columbine School Schooling, 4/20/1999

Columbine is a small suburban town of Littleton, CO. I believe that the students were well educated, and it seemed to be an average high school with the typical cliques of students. Sadly, two male students decided to shoot the students and athletes who picked on them. Several students and one teacher were murdered. I can’t imagine what the teachers who had these boys in class were feeling.

Rural: Amish school shooting, 10/3/2006

In Lancaster, PA a humble Amish community lost two young girls in a school shooting. After the shooting the community tore down the school because they could not bare to relive the horror. Students were horrified. There were five girls killed, and five survived. One teacher was let go by the shooter, Charlie Roberts. This tragedy demonstrates the sad truth that school violence can take place anywhere, in urban, suburban, and rural atmospheres.