Review of South Park (Season 4, Episode 3)

 

 

This review is on the fourth episode, season four of the animated series South Park entitled Timmy 2000. The episode has two separate stories, that come together at the end, but I will be focusing on the side that discusses the diagnosis of ADD and the use of Ritalin on children as a form of discipline. To view the plot in its entirety on Wikipedia CLICK HERE. The themes I will analyze throughout this review will include concepts around discipline, the use of prescription drugs as a replacement for other older forms of discipline, school's foundations built on traditional methodology and the banking model. I will review this episode based on ideas and concepts covered in class material from a variety of authors like Michele Foucault, Paulo Freire, Roger Deacon and Edward W. Morris.

The reason for the use of Ritalin and other such prescription drugs are said to be for the treatment of ADD and ADHD, but the reality of it is that it is over used. The use of these drugs is claimed by many to be a form of discipline which is a major part of education. Discipline is an aspect of the “hidden curriculum” and is arguably the priority of modern education systems, to exert certain morale's and control of society and mold students to particular ways. Kids are viewed as distracted when in reality they are simply being kids, in the show one mother states “Stan your acting like an 8 year old” to which he replies “I am an 8 year old”, I think this illustrates the view of parents and teachers and their tendency to lose sight of the individual as a kid whereas they only see the “subject”

Critical Reflection 3

In chapter 2 of the book “Pedagogy of the Oppressed,” Freire does a great analysis surrounding the banking model of education, one that I found to be quite insightful. This method reflects the idea of the teacher depositing information into the students who are considered to otherwise be empty. Freire (1970) describes this method as having a scope that only extends “as far as receiving, filing, and storing the deposits” (p.72,) which Freire (1970) then states “the more the students work at storing the deposits entrusted to them, the less they develop the critical consciousness which would result from their intervention in the world as transformers of that world” (p.73). Ultimately, due to the lack of scope descibed by Friere, the students are alienated and oppressed as they are not the arbiters of their conscience, only holding and then regurgitating information, and they end up only viewing the world as “the way it is” rather than seeing themselves as “transformers of that world”. The next interesting concept that caught my eye was in regards toliberatory education, which “must begin with the solution of the teacher-student contradiction” (Freire, 1970, p.72). What he is referring to as the teacher-student contradiction is the way that the teacher and student are presented to one another as the opposite and therefore through the banking method the possibility that students teach the teacher

R.S.A. animate- changing education paradigms

I'm posting this mainly for its relevance to the ADD and ADHD debate and discussion, but the video brings up many other concepts and theories related to the study of education, such as the alienation of students through the banking model, schooling as industry, education in a changed world and the list goes on.