CNN Special Featuring FIRST, Sunday 5/15

[AlecMataloni]

Dear CNN,

We're not from indiana.

Love, Wildstang

[blayde5]

Originally Posted by AlecMataloni

Dear CNN,

We're not from indiana.

Love, Wildstang

If this was on facebook, I would "like" this haha.

At this point, any exposure on a national level for FIRST is good exposure. Sure there are some things that could be done better but the way CNN ran it made sure that everyone could understand that there is a problem and FIRST is a great way to begin to solve it.

Disclaimer about this next part: I do not believe any of this is right and I was honestly shocked when I heard it from my teacher

The problem with education was put in a great but twisted way by my economics teacher: the governments and authorities in the poorer areas of the country where gangs are secretly don't want them to advance in society because well... they come from the families of gangs. They're scared of these people being above them later on, so they bring them down (crabs in a barrel mentality?) by not offering higher level courses and extra-curriculars such as FIRST. THIS is one of the many things about our culture that needs to be changed.

Also, people have also said that a great challenge from America such as going to the moon will bring about our brightest minds and inspire them to be successful. Anyone thinking Mars?

[XaulZan11]

Originally Posted by blayde5

If
The problem with education was put in a great but twisted way by my economics teacher: the governments and authorities in the poorer areas of the country where gangs are secretly don't want them to advance in society because well... they come from the families of gangs. They're scared of these people being above them later on, so they bring them down (crabs in a barrel mentality?) by not offering higher level courses and extra-curriculars such as FIRST. THIS is one of the many things about our culture that needs to be changed.

Maybe the problem with education is teachers teaching speculation and conspiracy theories instead of their actual subjects

I thought it was a great program. They were really smart to follow a couple of students to get that personal emotional involvment to keep the viewed engaged. The minor errors (regional names, Wildstang's new address) aren't a big deal at all in the grand scheme of things.

[pfreivald]

I think that overall it was a great overview...

All the little details that were wrong do make me cringe, though. Not because of how it reflects on FIRST -- none of the people who notice the little wrong details are the target audience -- but because of what it shows us about journalism. This is *journalism*, where their job is to get the details right! (Now apply to every other news story the diligence in facts we see here, and see why I'm cringing.)

[OZ_341]

Originally Posted by pfreivald

I think that overall it was a great overview...

All the little details that were wrong do make me cringe, though. Not because of how it reflects on FIRST -- none of the people who notice the little wrong details are the target audience -- but because of what it shows us about journalism. This is *journalism*, where their job is to get the details right! (Now apply to every other news story the diligence in facts we see here, and see why I'm cringing.)

I agree! The past twelve years of stories about FIRST and our team have been an eye opener for me. It does not seem to matter whether it is a newspaper, TV, magazine, online article, or radio.

If the reporter gets the story 80% correct, I am THRILLED!

[RoboMom]

I thought all 3 of the students featured did an amazing job on camera. They should be very proud of how they represented themselves, their teams and FRC.

[DonRotolo]

Despite the inconsistencies (Note to all readers: Virtually ALL media stories are rife with these kinds of errors. Remember that as you read the news...) it was a well-made program.

And, I got to see Billfred on TV!

[rsisk]

I understand the show will be airing again on Sat at 8PM Eastern.

[nlknauss]

As an educator, I really appreciated the information supporting the needs of our nation's students. It's nice to see that no matter where they come from, our youth really want to do big things. i hope they have those opportunities after they leave our schools.

Thanks to CNN, FIRST, and the participating teams for putting this together!

[JaneYoung]

Originally Posted by nlknauss

It's nice to see that no matter where they come from, our youth really want to do big things.

Sometimes facing difficult realities and cultural roadblocks and still allowing themselves to dream big and set goals to work towards and achieve.

Jane

[Bill_B]

Originally Posted by nlknauss

As an educator, I really appreciated the information supporting the needs of our nation's students. It's nice to see that no matter where they come from, our youth really want to do big things. i hope they have those opportunities after they leave our schools.

Thanks to CNN, FIRST, and the participating teams for putting this together!

Sorry to play the devil's advocate -
I would have to amend your observation to read:
It's nice to see that no matter where they come from, you can find some youth who really want to do big things.

That is what the CNN production team has done. They found three examples of youths with objectives. They showed us selected aspects of those kids' objectives and current environments which support CNN's basic premise that something is lacking in the current education method. During the exposition, the narrator offered us statements about the topic. FIRST was shown to be a part of the process by which these youths were attempting to reach their objectives.

The viewing public is quite familiar with the "sky is falling" style of advocacy for a multitude of societal and global aliments. A parade of talking heads may not be an effective way to present information about those ailments these days. One way to increase acceptance and make the exposition more interesting is dispersing those testimonials amidst a story or stories related to the situation. Those of us who agree that the current education system lacks sufficient ability to provide our youth with adequate resources, can hope that this program has illustrated the situation to others capable of helping.

I see the problem as having at least two aspects. First, the absence of opportunity for students to get formal training in STEM skills. Second, the absence of desire among those same students to have any training at all in STEM skills. I also see FIRST as being a significant factor in dealing with the second case. It is my hope that solutions to the second case produce enough demand among the student population that the first case is also solved.

I expect to use this CNN documentary as a way to show some students that making a comfortable life will require significant and worthwhile effort. I congratulate the three examples that CNN found for their efforts so far. I thank CNN for presenting their stories in such an interesting manner, how ever incomplete and imprecise as they may be.

[SteveGarward]

I thought this was a really good piece overall, showing both the problem and what is used to be part of the solutions.

There were some inaccuracies and things that some of us involved in FRC may cringe at (I know my US geography isn't great, but who knew I moved to Chicago, IN?), but the show wasn't called 'FIRST: Go you good thing!', or 'FIRST: Everybody else is doing it, why aren't you?'. That show, with either of those two (poor) working titles will be shown in August.

But as an Aussie who has recently moved to the US with a young daughter, it was a show where you hoped the inaccuracies were really in the statistics on the US education system. Unfortunately they are probably closer to the truth than not.

I applaud this show for not only showing what most already know about the US education system, but for bringing an awareness to the greater population of one of many programs that can be used to help solve this problem. We need to stop looking for the small wrong details about FIRST, like a bunch of Star Wars fans showing where Chewbacca hits his head on the door. I know I for one will be referring others to watch this to show exactly why I volunteer my time to the FIRST programs, and any other similar programs, in order to help young people find a reason for becoming educated and finding their path in life.

[Meredith Novak]

The special was great and I was pleasantly surprised at the hard approach CNN took at some failings in our education system.

Interesting story that did not make it into the show:

We were alliance partners with 842 during the eliminations on Newton. There was a red card in one of our quarterfinal matches that we questioned. Since the CNN crew was there, they were interested in putting this "controversy" into the special. Our team was asked about reporting it. Our drive coach said, "No, that is not what this is about."

THAT was a good call!

[AlecMataloni]

You're completely right, xaul. Besides, we've got no problem hanging out with Beatty and the technokats.