My students ask me if we can watch a movie every day. This week, I let them watch a film.
What instantly struck me was that their collective attention span was that of a five-second pop-up internet advertisement.
Four movies were begun over the course of an hour.
The class would sit somewhat silently at first.
Within five minutes they would then start fiddling with their cell phones.
Within ten minutes they would all be whining.
"This film is so boring, can we watch another?"
"Do you have anything more interesting?"
"This is stupid."
I began imagining what would happen were I to show them an hour-long string of film previews. Would that satisfy them? They never exceed 5 minutes and are usually quite gripping.
I remember a time when meeting with a friend required two things: A time and a place.
We watched VHS tapes, listened to CD's or LP's, called house lines, or simply knocked on the door.
Things weren't better then than they are now, but they certainly were more simple.
They were also more conducive to the development of a decent attention span.
I can sit down, in silence, and read a book for hours.
The youth that I see here may never be capable of doing that, as the idea of sitting in silence isn't hard-wired for them as it is for me.
How is the race to continue when the gadgets of our daily lives distract us from ever examining those lives?
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Man, those Bulgarian kids got SASS.
ReplyDeleteI remember in '98, teacher let us watch Titanic in class. We sat reverently through the whole damn thing. And that piece of shit was LONG. The only incident was when my friend Robbie laughed out loud at the passenger who jumps off the ship and collides with the propeller on his way down. He was sharply reprimanded.