Frames of Media

Before delving heavily into each form of media and what I gleamed from those interpretations, I wanted to mention that I grew up in Southeast Asia, and attended all International/American private schools, so my view of American Public School is entirely dictated by the media. I have no firsthand experience. That said, I tried to write about media that others have not, but have found it difficult at best, and a disappointment at worst. What I have discovered, however, is that the major difference expressed among rural, suburban, and urban education in the media is the source of their conflicts.

Generally, media that deals with urban education focuses on external conflicts from the community and how these act as social barriers, or hurdles, for students to negotiate in order to succeed in their lives. While these will often focus on a teacher or students, the main source of conflict is between the students’ lives in school and the demands of their lives outside of school. Generally, the external forces involve difficult choices for minors that could drastically dictate the course of their lives.

Suburban education as it is portrayed in the media dwells less on immediate external societal pressures — like working in a factory to support the family — and more on school-centric conflicts. Media that focus on suburban education tend to dwell on the conflicts endemic on students bound for college, on relationships, and on social participation (cheerleading, dancing, sports, or band). Regarding this facet of the media, the attention tends to not be on the external social status of the student, but the internal social status and how the student negotiates to the desired goal (college, a date, making the state competition).

Finally, rural education as it is portrayed in the media tends to be either an extension of suburban education, tends to focus on more traditional Christian values, abuse, or can be a blending of both urban and suburban issues juxtaposed against the under-developed regions of the United States. The theme that “townsfolk” of rural America are naïve, backwards, and bumpkins, appears as well.

Film

Urban: Hoop Dreams

Hoop Dreams is the story of two boys from the Cabrini Green projects in Chicago who are recruited to St. Joseph’s High School in the Chicagoland suburbs to participate in St. Joe’s outstanding Basketball program. While some might argue that this is less a movie about urban education, and more one about the struggle of two inner-city youths as they negotiate school-life in the suburbs, I argue that as it is about two students from the inner city, each of whom deals with a wealth of extracurricular activities pertaining to their lives in Chicago amidst attending school and experiencing the wealth of activities therein related, that it can be classified as a film about urban education.

Suburban: Ping Pong

Having not attended school in Japan, I wasn’t sure if this was set in the city or in a suburb. However, as this movie is more concerned with two students and their time on the school ping pong team, I felt that it was more indicative of suburbia, than of urban life. In this movie, Peco is a brash high school ping pong player with a lot of spirit and talent, but no discipline. His close friend, Smile, is also on the team, and is much better than Peco, but lacks his friend’s enthusiasm: It’s just a game to him. In this movie, their coach tries to inspire Smile, but after much enthusiasm discovers that he has a better chance of inspiring him by treating him as a person, and less so as a student.

Rural: The Music Man

The Music Man is the story of con man Professor Harold Hill who arrives in the quiet Iowa town of River City under the guise of a band leader. His goal: To sell uniforms and band instruments to the town, and skip out with the profits. In this musical-turned-movie, the Iowans are seen as gullible, but also conservative Christians who fear the results of gambling. There isn’t a lot of education or formal teaching going on in this movie, short of piano lessons as given by local librarian Marian Paroo, we do see Hill inspiring many youths to join his band.

Television

Urban: The Wire, Season 4

Similar to Hoop Dreams in terms of problems the students encounter at home, season 4 of The Wire delves into the lives of four boys living in the slums of West Baltimore and new teacher, Prez, who tries to reach his students. Unlike the TV shows depicting suburbia or rural America (see below), the stakes in The Wire are higher: This show follows the lives of these four boys as they are lured into the drug trade and the ramifications these choices will have not only for them, but for the lives of those that intersect with their own.

Suburban: Saved By the Bell

Saved by the Bell is an idyllic show from the early 90s that focuses on a multicultural cast of teens attending a high school in middle-class, suburban America. Unlike most movies, the show is more student-centric, focusing on the hijinks of Zack and his friend Screech, their friends A.C., Jessie, Kelly, and Lisa, and their oft run-ins with Mr. Belding, the Principal of Bayside High School. Although teachers do appear in this show, they do little to propel conflict which generally occurred between Zack and AC, Zack and Mr. Belding, or as a result of a date gone awry.

Rural: 17 Kids and Counting

17 Kids and Counting is one of many reality TV shows that allow viewers to peer into the day-to-day lives of the Duggar Family, a 19-person family in rural Arkansas. While the show focuses more on family life than on school education, the show does on occasion present the Duggars home schooling and interviews the children and their mother, Michele, on their views of home schooling. During these interviews it is clear that the children are fully indoctrinated into their insular and orthodox lifestyle, and that their parents limit what media their children are allowed to experience.

News

Urban: “Computers Sought for City’s Kids,” Courier Post, Feb. 2, 2009

This article from the Courier Post focuses on the philanthropy of 20-year-old, native-born Camden resident, Jeffrey Jones, founder of Miracles Global, Inc. According to Jones, the purpose of the new nonprofit organization is “to collect, money or computers that will be given to Camden schools and eventually … to other ailing districts in the state and throughout the country.” While this article does not focus on teachers or students, it does focus on a member of the community (Jones) and his corporation through which he hopes to aid the students of the inner city. As is he says, "We're living in a globalized economy, a globalized world, and inner-city kids are being disconnected," he said. "They're at such an informational disadvantage."

Suburban: “East Longmeadow girls basketball team wins eighth straight game,” The Republican, January 30, 2009.

This article also doesn’t address students or teachers, directly, but does remind residents that East Longmeadow High School’s girls basketball team is now the number one girls basketball team in suburban West Massachusetts. The article also presents the rankings and scores of other teams in the region, as well as in other sports (hockey) and among preparatory schools. This article exemplifies many articles about suburban education by focusing on a product of education that is highly valued by that society.

Rural: “Parents: Cuts Will Hit Rural Schools Hardest,” Daily Press (Richmond, VA), January 27, 2009.

This article from the Daily Press, a newspaper out of Richmond, Virginia, addresses the effects of the dwindling economy on rural education. This article highlights how the state of Virginia has proposed eliminating all field trips from the budget of Matthews School (a community school in rural VA) as well as eliminating the positions of non-teaching staff (secretaries, janitors, and IT). Residents whose children attend the school are outraged, declaring that slashing field trips will diminish the quality of the education.

Music

Urban: Another Brick in the Wall

While this song does not directly mention that it takes place in an urban setting, the tone of the song suggests an abusive, totalitarian environment where students are no more than bricks that need to be hammered into place. In this song, the students are depicted as victims, while teachers are depicted as bullies. Given the rough, no-nonsense environment typically indicative of urban education, I feel this song can fit under this category.


Suburban: 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

While this is a musical, and not a song, per se, I felt it would be appropriate to place it in this category, as no one song really captures to me the whole idea of the musical itself. Unlike the previous song, this set of songs is based in the school gym of a (presumably) suburban middle school, in which 6 quirky contestants are competing in a county spelling bee, while moderated by 3 equally-quirky teachers. Students in this musical are portrayed as being overly self-conscious, highly intelligent, and highly diverse in terms of their backgrounds. The teachers on the other hand are less uniform and more problematic: one is a former winner, re-living her glory days through the students, one is an apathetic ex-con, and the last is a nervous vice-principal who as feelings for the first teacher. While the play is clearly a satire of school, adolescence, and the characters in suburban school, it also represents a neat analysis of our frames of reference and how we view the education in suburbia.

Rural: Broken Heartland

Broken Heartland is a country song that depicts rural America as a place where everything is changing, and living is hard. The song focuses on a lone farmer whose children have left for college where they can get an education that will get them off the farm. The song also illustrates that rural America is being torn-up and put aside to make way for the hegemony of suburbia, evident by the foreclosure on the farmer’s land and the building of a new mall.