So… Anyone else notice their attention span slipping?
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not here to preach about it, but, it’s hard to deny, that with easier access to smartphones, laptops, and anything else that let us hit the internet at the click of a button, focusing on any one thing for more than about three minutes has become far more difficult.
I, for one, love movies of largely any type, but, I find recently if a film doesn’t manage to grab my attention in some way, or I’m not in the right mindset to sit still and watch, I’ll find about 15 other things to do at the same time and miss the whole thing.
That got me thinking though, do you know when my mind never wavered from the film in front of me?
In class.
I’m dead serious. The mix of escaping the daily grind and being surrounded by my (nominal) friends at the same time, actually managed to hold my attention for hours on end, where my teachers and textbooks had failed.
While some amongst you may roll your eyes or shake your heads at this – “Obviouslyyou were just too easily distracted” – I believe it goes deeper than that. Film, as a medium, engages and entrances the mind in ways that books never really can.
Think about it. Books are amazing avenues for storytelling – the basis of any well-constructed lesson based upon the relevance texts – but are, by their nature, limited by the reader’s ability to comprehend them; One misplaced strand of thought – an overwrought description, or an author’s excessive use of four-syllable and above words – can unravel any chance for certain individuals actually understanding their content.
But film, a visualmedium, holds no such danger. Barring an inconvenient plot-hole brought-in on the part of the filmmakers, film can bring to life moments and lessons in ways that can endear them to viewers in ways far beyond the toneless memorization typical in public education.
If implemented correctly, it can even push one
If you don’t believe me, believe the numbers: In 2017, when taken from a sample of millions, individuals aged from 2-24 accounted for 27.7% of frequent moviegoers in the U.S when taken together.
The fact is, films resonate with youth, and what some may call a distraction from “actual” schoolwork, when implemented correctly, holds the potential to push curiosity and engagement in students to new heights.
So maybe, rather than looking down on their use in the classroom or shoveling them to the side in favor yet more test prep and paperwork, or even just as a last lazy resort, teachers and administrators should structure a few lessons around them, and allow them to act as an actual tool, rather than a mere distraction.
Wouldn’t that be something that keeps your attention?
Citations:
MPAA. (March 21, 2019). Number of frequent moviegoers in the United States in 2017, by age group (in millions) [Graph]. In Statista. Retrieved February 23, 2020, from https://www.statista.com.libproxy.highpoint.edu/statistics/251466/us-movie-theater-audience-by-age/
Opinions & Critiques 