There is no doubt that the education system in the United States of America is facing new challenges with the increasing complexity of society, especially with the technological revolution. Promoting high-quality educational experiences for students is becoming an obstacle that students, teachers, and ultimately society must overcome to continue to thrive in the ever-changing environment of the 21st century. In this essay I try to explore the possibilities of looking at the way the education system is represented through popular films. To examine the cultural values ​​displayed in the film industry, I decided to choose the following three films: Precious (II), Freedom Writers, and Bully. I will include information about each film separately and eventually hopefully come to an answer about the importance of how the standard depicts the education system and the struggles students and teachers face. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The first movie I will talk about is Precious. Precious was produced in 2009 and tells the story of Claireece Jones, a sixteen-year-old high school student who has suffered domestic abuse both mentally and physically by her parents and often by her classmates. Claireece or Precious, her middle name which she uses to introduce herself, is a black, illiterate, pregnant and overweight woman. Precious lives with her mother (Mary) in Harlem, New York. Mary is described as a lazy person who doesn't even look for a job, lives on welfare and always watches TV. He also appears to be a person who just smokes and is involved in fraud regarding his welfare status. On the other hand, Precious seems to be very ambitious, at least as told at the beginning, despite the adversities she had to face on a daily basis. His ambition is also evident through his daydreams of being safe and sound; things he doesn't have at that moment. For Precious to be successful, I believe she realized that she needs to stay in school in order to get an education and later break free from the unforgiving and harsh environment she lived in. The school principal has decided to move her to an alternative school where she can learn to read and write. Precious had a hard time fitting in, as she is not very welcome in her current school environment as she was overweight and couldn't read or write like people her age. So, although Precious went through difficulties within her micro-society (family), she also had difficulties outside the home. As a result, it is very difficult for Precious to learn, thrive, and gain knowledge. As the film progresses, we realize that Precious was raped by her father and became pregnant as a result. In addition to that, Precious discovered that she is HIV positive. I think the film's production team did a great job of portraying how she was emotionally abused by her mother saying "Get that son of a bitch off me" and her peers calling her fat and sexually harassing her. The film depicted how she was physically abused by her mother who beat her and we could see flashbacks and memories of when her father raped her. All of these cases matter because of the struggles and responsibilities that Precious had to carry on her shoulders at such a young age. The second film, Freedom Writers, unlike the first film focuses on a student, this time this film puts the focus on a teacher who comes from a middle class family and who appears to be cultured, good looking and very intelligent . The school Erin taught at was in Long Beach, California. Erin notshe knew what she was getting into, as she wasn't prepared for what the nature of the classroom had said Erin just started her first teaching job. Being in such a diverse population, where Latinos, whites, blacks, Asians and others didn't seem to get along very well. Many students were involved in gangs, and nearly everyone in the class knew of someone who had died as a result of gun violence. Erin at this point, has done her best to change the situation and has made daily journal writing mandatory, however, she will not read them until the students give her permission to do so. In my opinion, Erin also sacrificed two major things: first, her time and money, and second, her relationship with Scott. Erin had to find other jobs to pay for and help students and struggled to find the right time to think about her marriage. Erin continued to inspire her class and was in danger of losing her job as many of the administrative staff were concerned and very encouraging. Erin also motivated young students to pursue education beyond simply having a high school diploma. Once Erin gained the students' trust and they warmed up to her, it allowed her to share knowledge, love, care, and attention; the basics that everyone in that school needed. The film ends on a very positive note as many of Erin's students continue their education beyond high school. The third film I will talk about is called Bully. According to the National Center for Education Statistics and the Bureau of Justice Statistics, “Between 1 in 4 and 1 in 3 U.S. students say they have been bullied at school. Far fewer have been victims of cyberbullying." Unlike other films, this is a documentary that shows how many of us can be victims of bullying. Not only that, but sometimes you don't have to be a bully directly, you just have to be a witness who stays silent or bullies someone indirectly. This documentary does a great job providing statistics and real-life examples of kids whose lives have been greatly affected by bullying. The bullying crisis pushes many kids to be unmotivated on the first day of school or even leads to the absence of hundreds of thousands of students across the country. Bully primarily delves into the story of five teenagers (Alex, Kelby, Tyler, Cody, and JeMeya) who have been exposed to different types of bullying. Those teenagers had different stories ranging from being nervous about going back to school in Alex's case, to Kelby being a young lesbian girl who doesn't feel welcome anywhere in town or at school and would have thought about committing suicide as a result, to Tayler who committed suicide due to bullying where peers pushed him into a locker and verbally abused him as his father described it, to JeMeya who was sent to juvie while carrying her mother's gun (not to hurt anyone but enough to scare the other boys who bullied her). All of these stories touched me personally and showed me how bullying can cost many lives. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay To conclude, across the three films discussed above, we can perceive a general trend in the overall issues facing students and teachers. I am a firm believer in how effective and powerful visual media can be. Throughout the film, we saw how Precious struggled as a young woman who suffered verbal and mental abuse from her parents and peers. We also saw how Erin, the teacher, struggled at first.