Back To School Film Analysis

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One of the privileges that many United States students take for granted is the right to a free education. Across the world a basic education is not guaranteed, and for many students, especially girls or adolescents in poor countries school may seem like an impossible dream. In 2006 PBS followed 7 students across the world, watching their fight for basic education. Some of the students they followed were Shugufa, Ken, and Joab. Through their stories and struggle we can learn what a gift school is.
Shugufa lives in Afghanistan, in a poor village, with 13 people in her family. Many of the challenges Shugufa faces when attempting to go to school I can not relate to. Shugufa’s Mom was illiterate, and Shugufa was expected to do many chores before and after school. This is different from my experience since both my Mom and Dad graduated college, and school is prioritized above chores in my household. It was not common for girls to go to school where Shugufa lived, and she
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I rarely see how significant my right to an education is. Through watching the documentary “Back to School” I was given the opportunity to see into the lives of students struggling to get what I was handed. This film made me feel many things, but the most significant emotions I felt were sadness and hope. These contradictory emotions co-existed because of the multifaceted aspects of the film. I was saddened by the struggle these kids had to go through to get something they should be guaranteed, and especially, to see them put down by their society and families for trying to a very basic need. I felt hopeful through seeing some of these kids overcome the great adversity, and continuing to study and work hard for a better life. This film truly presented the resiliency of the human spirit. After watching this film my greatest takeaway was how advantageous the free and required education we in the U.S.