Thanks for mentioning Green Schools Initiative, Annie! I am THRILLED that teachers are showing this film and I have sent it to our listserve of about 800 school interests. I wanted to mention a few other resources that teachers may find useful in developing hands-on ways for their students to engage with the issues raised.

1. Resource audits – Have your students do an actual audit of garbage, paper use, energy use, climate emissions, or toxics used at school. It is quite an education for them to get their hands dirty and see the materials used and wasted in their very own school. They will readily come up with creative solutions based on the waste that they see and track. At http://www.greenschools.net on the Resources Page, click on “Curricula” and you’ll get to a page with lots of information about how to do audits with students: sample data sheets, equipment needs, on-line calculators, sample permission slips, etc.

2. Facing the Future – This is a fantastic set of curricula, many activities are free and downloadable on their website: http://www.facingthefuture.org. The curricula explores sustainability from the perspectives of people/fairness/society, environment, and economy. They have a textbook for middle and high school, and are coming out with a K-4 one in Spring 2008. They also do teacher training workshops and more. The curricula is in use in 49 states and 42 countries. Check it out!

These activities should be great complements to showing the video and spurring students to action. I can’t wait to hear more ideas from teachers everywhere! GSI is hoping to create a space on our website to track school and student activities so we can better report on all the solutions people are pursuing!
Best,
Deborah

Annie, you rock. This video and the whole message is critical to get through the heads of our entire globe, starting at home. Hopefully we can get our ‘leaders’ to get out of the pocket of business and into really leading on environmental issues.

I have forwarded it to friends. Keep it up!

Thx!
Scott

I just showed the video to all my high school computer graphic design classes. The video was passed along to me at a perfect time. We had already been brainstorming and researching social/societal issues that they would create a visual editorial about with text and image. They all loved the video and those who were already thinking of environmental issues (about a third) benefited greatly. One girl said to me after, “I feel so ashamed.” She asked me for the website to search the FAQ’s on her own. Others took a quote from the research and placed it with an image to communicate their ideas.

Even those who were drawn to other topics for their projects were moved. I know they are going to remember this video for quite some time.

Il video sottotitolato in italiano (in tre parti):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNRdMDpFipE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBgtEoFAt7s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FebsUu6_oQk

Dear Annie
After 37 years of environmental consciousness and activism, beginning
with working for Dr. Roger Revelle at Harvard U. typing his GLOBAL WARMING tables,etc! I have lived my entire life with sustainability in mind. The graphic of how small our population is here in the u.s. and how much we consume was indelibly etched into my 20 something brain back then… I have spent my life trying to ‘walk to talk’ and teach others what I knew…but for many years was
considered a ‘freak’, and a pain in the butt (at my childrens’ schools, for example, when I would end up recycling everything from their myriad events, which was VERY unpopular 18 years ago…darn it I couldn’t get any volunteers!).. my strange ideas are now mainstream, and sometimes i run into people at the grocery stores who can barely look me in the eye, for the guilt they feel for having given me such a hard time! Well, thank goodness, the time has finally come for environmental consciousness to be ‘the norm’, and just maybe, the shift we oldies have all been waiting for will begin!!
I have had the vision, have managed a sisyphian journey (up hill) and can finally relax a little!!! you have done the MOST AMAZING job of putting together this INCREDIBLE film. I have actually MOVED to New Zealand, and am doing working on a sustainability project there at the moment (the government is on the same page, if you can imagine it!) but will of course now be committed to distributing your film far and wide!!!!…both here in the u.s. (as i live here 1/3 of the time) and in NZ. I believe that we can really begin to make the changes necessary for sustainability to become reality, and the answer lies with the education of the masses that your film provides. THANK YOU SO MUCH! ONe comment I would like to make, regarding the materials for home
and/or community showings of the film…what about using envelopes from mailings that we all get, as the envelopes for the donations? I, personally must have several hundred envelopes which i have saved over the years, even the large ones with my name on them, crossed off, and reused… (haven’t bought envelopes in over 20 years…people have thought me mad and very unfashionable for using ‘old, used’ envelopes, and now its a ‘great idea’ hooray! junk mail and bill envelopes which are sent out in the millions each day, and other, perfectly good envelopes should be re used as well…SO WHAT they have been used before (i have several which have been reused 2-3 times backwards and forwards to my family members…they are used to it!) It is actually fun to see how many times one envelope can be used and re used! (good projects to inspire young people to do, as they do not have preconceived ideas about the value of using ‘fresh, new envelopes for mailings’….also, using double sides of all paper is another one.
<My poor daughter had a term paper returned because it was printed on paper that had something else on the other side of it…how awful it was for her to have had to be punished for doing the right thing…and how sad that it was her mother’s idea that got her in ‘trouble’….i have lots of stories like that, which i won’t bore you with….things have changed….
and not a moment too soon…thanks again for what you have done….
the word will be spread, and there is hope! ‘good on ya’ as we say in New Zealand…
happy holidays to all…

sysyphean…looked it up! forgive me!

“Have you noticed that when you buy a computer now, the technology is just moving so fast that in a couple of years it’s an actually an impediment to communication. I was curious about this, so I opened up a big desktop computer to see what was inside, and I found out that the peice that changes each year is just a tiny little peice in the corner, but you can’t just change that one peice because each new version is a different shape so you gotta chuck the whole thing and buy a new one.”

Anyone who knows anything about computers is going to have a REALLY REALLY big problem with this bit. Expect to get a lot of comments about it.

Hi Annie,
I have watched the video and have shown it in my Social Studies classes. The students loved it. They felt informed and they also felt that I was treating them with respect. Let me elaborate on that…
Most of the time the kids feel like adults don’t share with them what is really going on in the world. They feel like we keep information from them and that we don’t talk to them like they can understand. They do understand if it is explained to them and they want to know.
We talked about the subject for the entire period and wrote their personal reflection on the topic. They had a lot of personal experience with their stuff breaking with in a short time or almost as soon as they tried to use it. Kids love this information and they love to know about what is going on in the world.
Thanks for sharing and making video interesting enough for 14 year olds to get it.
Liz

Now before you go deleting this comment because I don’t agree with you, consider the fact that I agree with the general direction in which you are headed.

I disagree with one of your basic tenets.
You state rather firmly that the government exists to look out for us and take care of us.

I firmly disagree. This notion is part of what is dysfunctional that you are trying to fix. The historical figures which you quote out of context thought they were doing what you think government is for.

We need always to take care of and look out for ourselves as a form of maintaining our own integrity AND participating responsibly in our community and governance.

A government that is “of the people, by the people and for the people” is not a “They” with “Their job” in place as a parent. As Pogo said, “We have met the enemy and it is us.”

A government that is “of the people, by the people and for the people” is in place as a collection of agreements about how we want to live together as neighbors and what work and play we wish to do together, like making roads.

Healthy democracy is not about entitlement, which acts like a drug to numb people to their own powerful energy, Desire. We need look no further than low voter rates and low attendance at public meetings and the difficulty in getting people to run for office to find the lack of desire resulting from this detached, entitlement view of democracy.

Eisenhower‚Äôs Councils of Economic Advisors thought they were doing exactly what you want, “looking out for and taking care of us,” when they tried to ramp up the economy with consumerism. http://www.answers.com/topic/council-of-economic-advisors-2 Just as the executives of Wal-Mart actually believe they are raising the standard of living in America by making more stuff available so people can live more comfortably. And the people who work and shop there AGREE with them. In fact, Wal-Mart’s policy of directing people to sign up for medical assistance from their local government fits right in with your idea that the government is here to take care of us!

The much derided McDonalds actually made history by making a clean reliable place where low-income single parents could eat out with their kids. Ask anyone who was in that situation when McDonalds arrived on the scene. They did in fact lift spirits and give people hope, just as Wal-Mart is doing.

That said, I am not a Wal-Mart shopper, but many of my extended family are and I see how for them this raises the “standard of living” they are able to achieve with the incomes they have.

Until someone finds a way to ignite or fuel Desire for things that last, consumerism will continue. And everyone out of that flow is just perceived as a whiner.

The goal then is to demonstrate achievable prosperity, joy and FASHION in a lifestyle that includes stuff that lasts.

Greetings from New Zealand, where we would like the world to believe we are clean and green…and thankfully we are more so than many other parts of the world. However, our slogans only serve to mask the sad truth that we too have been sucked into the insidious trap of consumerism and trashing of our previously pristine environment.

I should like to commend Annie for the wonderfully crafted piece of communication that is this move.

However, if I might be allowed a small jibe.

I found a tad ironic that in the first minutes of the movie she junked her i-pod…..I do understand the use of the symbol of consumerism that most young folks would relate to…the throw away i-pod, but perhaps it and the radio she obtained from Radio Shack at the insanely unsustainable price of $4.99 could have been retained or donated rather than trashed.

Small picky point, but what I am attempting to show is that we have become so immune to our wastefullness that even people with the laudable intent to teach us to change or perish perform that american act of “chucking”. (for those who care, in the antipodes the term chucking is reserved for the act of expelling substances that no longer serve, or risk poising our bodies)

Peace, love and light

Chris Destrieux
Auckland
New Zealand

Thanks Annie, for sharing your valuable insights with the world. Here in Denmark we have so much more to learn – You give your information with much power and clarity. So I have forwarded a link to the teacher in my daughters school, and I also wrote a blog at trashprint.com. I do organic t-shirts with organic prints on and keep telling people to buy less
Less is more. Always told my kids that: less but good, is better than a lot of junk.

im a fourth grader and i was browsing on you tube when i tiped in stuff. then i clicked on all your clips, (1,2,3,4,5,6,and7) i thought it was realy cool how you want to take care of the envirment, i to think its a big issue. im going to tell all my friends and family, and my teacher. i hope that youll make new videos about stuff so other people can notice the big causes.IM WAITING! your awsome, thanks for reading this. i tried stopping all the problems in the world but the people just looked at me weardly and started destoying our invirment. my dad cuts down trees to make mulch, i dont know if thats bad or not but he brings home dinner for us, RIGHT. smocking pulluets the earth to but vpeople still do. i hope you dont smoke or ever will. everyone sould ride there bike or walk to the places they need to go because the cars are pulluting the trees. i have asma and everyy year it gets worse because of the pulution.thanks for reading, you realy inspired me, i thought i was the only envirment freek! some people might think its funny that you care but i dont laugh a bit!
amanda

It’s amazing to me how intertwined our system of commerce is. It’s something that I knew but the effect it has can be far reaching. I was thinking about what you said about those that don’t consume not having power in this system and that is incredibly true. I work in social services. I work with people who cannot afford to be a part of this system. Because of that, with a Master’s degree, I get paid…well let’s just say NOT MUCH! It’s because what I do for a living doesn’t contribute to consumerism so it’s not valued. It doesn’t matter how difficult my job is or how hard I work or how necessary my services are. I don’t produce $$$. It’s a sad state of affairs but I have to believe that there are enough people like you out there that we can make a difference!

can you give me the source of the statistic that 1% of all consumables are junked within six months

thanks

You are God! Thanks so much for telling the story it has taken me years to to understand, all in just 20 minutes of brilliant visual story telling. I want to show it to my Energy class of Sustainbility Students first thing, at CSU Fulerton, Sustainbility P{rogram thruy Extended Ed. I would also like to show it to clients (I am beginging a practice of Corporate Greening using The Natural Step, this is so TNS), what do your require for commercial use? If ther is a DVD, I’ll buy it.

I am graphic and you have inspored me to do Flash story telling, if I come up w/ anthing that is an extension of your work that could be useful to you, I’ll send it along.

thanks and a big sustainable hug

I’m an art teacher (and environmentalist) who just found your fabulous movie and site. I just spent a week in a friends tiny apt in Paris and have come back home to the states with a renewed fervor to cut WAY back on my american-Super-size spending.

I would love to show your video to my art classes, and was wondering if any art teachers could share lesson plan ideas with a visual art component. Thanks and brava!

My son just referred me to your movie. The clarity and immediacy of it are perfect for my high school students (and everyone else). Students today, by the way, are aware and eager to do something positive. Here are my initial teaching ideas:
1) The sophomores just finished a New Year’s Resolutions project. As a follow-up, they’ll watch the movie for homework and write a metacognitive response, then list three ways they can make changes for sustainability this coming year. Before the semester ends, they’ll reassess their resolutions for energy/economy/environment.
2) My utopia/dystopia literature elective has already watched An Inconvenient Truth. These students, too, will watch The Story of Stuff for homework and write responses. I plan on writing a simulation (Problem Based Learning) using the linear diagram from the movie; in groups students will brainstorm on solutions to the problems. Students will get extra credit if they can get a Letter to the Editor published in the school or local newspaper – or they could publish a review in the school newspaper of the site/ the movie/ the book Annie recommended. Hmm, I’m just beginning the thought process; it is encouraging that there are many people networking to make this happen.
Thank you!
Judith

Annie
Thank you for the movie.
I just showed it to 80 sixth graders yesterday and it sparked some interesting discussions about the world they are inheriting and the world in which they will become leaders.
It was an eye-opening experience for many of them to think about their iPod, video games, etc, in a whole new light of the world in which resources are finite but consumerism looms large.
The video also allowed me to continue to talk to them about advertising and how to begin to see through the mist of consumerism.
I don’t know how many students I reached but if your movie sparked something in some of them, then that is a start, right?

Sincerely,
Kevin Hodgson
Sixth Grade Teacher
Southampton, Massachusetts

Have you considered the possibility of adding subtitles?

It’s a shame this happens all around the world and not only in USA, sometimes the rest of the world is even worse… so please, consider ‘global’, I really hope this may reach more people everywhere.

Congratulations, and thanks for reading.

Very user-friendly way to get the average person educated and concerned about human impact. Thank you so much for creating this!

I teach high school biology and show The Story of Stuff right after we discuss exponential human population growth as a part of a unit on “Environmental Human Impact”.

Since I also teach my students to verify anything they read or watch on the internet (since there is so much incorrect information out there), can you cite/post your sources on your website for your data and statistics? That would be wonderful.

Thanks so much for your efforts.

Here are 10 books relating to issues in the Story of Stuff that I am recommending for sharing with students:

Bang, Molly. Common Ground: The Water, Earth, and Air We Share. New York: Blue Sky Press, 1997. 32p.
Common Ground is the best beginning book on sustainability ever written. Using the analogy of the town commons turning to muck when too many sheep were grazed upon it, Molly Bang examines mankind’s headlong rush to grab every last bit of our rapidly depleting resources — and does all of this is a fashion that young students can understand. Absolutely brilliant and a must-have.

Baker, Jeannie. Window. New York: Greenwillow, 1991. 32p.
The wordless story illustrates the development of an area as seen through the frame of a window and viewed by a boy from birth until adulthood. The author’s note offers shocking information regarding the loss of wilderness and species.

Nivola, Claire A. Planting the Trees of Kenya: the Story of Wangari Maathai. New York: Frances Foster Books, 2008. 32p.
“Kenya’s crisis, like that of our planet as a whole, is that of an ever-expanding population dependent on ever-shrinking natural resources.”
Having seen a significant deterioration of Kenya’s environment in the years following Kenya’s independence in 1963, Wangari Maathai founded the Green Belt Movement which created a series of educational programs around the concept of planting trees in Kenya. For her work Wangari won the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize.

Porcellino, John. Thoreau at Walden. New York: Hyperion, 2008. 112p.
Thoreau at Walden succeeds quite beautifully in introducing readers to pearls of Henry David Thoreau through the incorporation of manageable passages of his writings into the graphic format. Thoreau at Walden is a joy to behold, a lovely book to inspire a new generation to live deliberately.

Anderson, M.T. and Kevin Hawkes, ill. Me, All Alone, at the End of the World. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press, 2005. 32p.
The first glimpse we get of the boy who narrates the story is of a barefoot youngster in denim overalls sitting on the left cheek of a grinning, pine-topped cliff. The boy lives his dreamy, idyllic life in peace, until a strange man shows up, scorns the boy’s “boring” existence, and begins construction on “CONSTANTINE SHIMMER’S GALVANO-MAGIC END OF THE WORLD TOURS. FUN ALL THE TIME.”
At first the young man is seduced by the excitement of the over-the-top development of the area and the swarms of tourists. But in time he comes to recognize that the glaring and blaring of the lights, the noise, the construction, and the destruction, have thoroughly eliminated all of the dreams and wonders of his former natural world. So he finally departs to go “live all alone at the Top of the World.”

Wallace, Nancy Elizabeth. Recycle Every Day! New York: Marshall Cavendish, 2003. 32p.
Minna’s parents share suggestions about recycling with her as she considers how to best create a poster for the school’s recycling poster contest. In the process, readers discover great recycling strategies.

Burns, Loree Griffin. Tracking Trash: Flotsam, Jetsam, and the Science of Ocean Motion. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2007. 56p.
Who knew that beachcombers kept logs of their finds or that they had conventions? Dr. Curtis Ebbesmeyer, who began his work with ocean currents and tracking trash when his mother asked him why hundreds of sneakers began washing up on beaches near Seattle, found significant clues by meeting beachcombers. We learn in Tracking Trash that there are slight changes year to year in the ocean currents and that projecting the currents is a well-refined science. It is through this science of ocean currents that scientists can predict the gathering of plastic garbage from the Americas and Asia in a garbage patch that really exists in the Pacific Ocean and which is as big as the state of Alaska. And it is through understanding the effects of such accumulations of garbage in the world’s oceans and how contaminated plastic thereby enters the food chain that Dr. Ebbesmeyer and others advocate making changes to prevent the degradation of the oceans. (This is one of those really interesting weird fact books.)

Cherry, Lynn. A River Ran Wild: an environmental history. San Diego, CA: Harcourt, 1992. 32p.
The history of the Nashua River Valley is followed from 1400 to 1990. The River steadily becomes more and more polluted following the coming of the Industrial Revolution. The work of Marion Stoddart in the 1960s to restore life to the River is highlighted. The text is framed with artifacts from successive time periods and endpages include a timeline.

Van Allsburg, Chris. Just A Dream. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1990. 32p.
A kid gets to see the future — a la Scrooge — and his clueless attitude about littering and recycling is radically altered. One interesting aspect of this book is that with it having been published in 1990, some of the future the boy sees is now reality in the twenty-first century.

Tashjian, Janet. The Gospel According to Larry. New York: Henry Holt, 2001. 192p. (recommend ages 14 and up)
A young man works to maintain anonymity and win the girl of his dreams after he creates a wildly-popular website that preaches an end to society’s mindless consumerism and its obsession with celebrities. Inspired by Thoreau, Josh/Larry also provides photos of the small number of possessions to which he limits himself.

of course , the worst kind of pollution comes from war. new bombs can make the air , water and soil necome radioactive.

The Story of Stuff offers a charming tutorial about our consumptive society, but there are some important things either left out or are misleading. First, while the U.S. is the largest economy in the world it is not the only one. For example, the U.S. may consume 25% of the stuff on the planet, but the conclusion could be the problem lies on the doorstep of the other 75%. Specifically, China with its 1.3 billion is rapidly overtaking the U.S. for the World Championship in consumption.

Only a few of the comments seem to really get it: global population and its correlate of growing consumption is sucking the planet dry. Even if we were to stop mining and producing things tomorrow people still require food and water and the limits are already over-stretched. The answer is simple: a Marshall Plan for maternal health and family planning.

As to the focus upon the U.S., our own population is ballooning because of immigration. Although utterly politically incorrect to point this out, again, the answer is simple: immigration must be reduced if the U.S. is to achieve a sustainable future.

Is a very funny simple way to show the world we live in.. fortunately i believe that i am not a shoppind addict. I just buy what i need or what i really want, i don´t bother myself with advertisements fashion or friends. I don´t recycle, i mean my family don´t recycle cause there are so many things that are unrecycled that we use that there isn´t no place to have a junkbox for each garbage. there is no space for that and even if there was is meaningless recycle cause even if we do people will just continue buying helping corporations, cause their language is like: “everyone recycles, lets say that everything we make is recycled they wouldn´t known that, lets create Modern recycling boxs, lets make.. bla bla bla” We will continue to buy cause is Fashion…

Censorship in Missoula, MT High Schools

School board assailed for video decision
By MICHAEL MOORE of the Missoulian

The Missoula County Public Schools board of trustees got an earful Tuesday night.

Angered by the board’s recent decision over a Big Sky High School teacher who showed a controversial video in class, students, parents and other teachers urged the board to reconsider its decision.

Teachers told the board the decision involving biology teacher Kathleen Kennedy and a video called “The Story of Stuff” had a chilling effect on them.

“I’m nervous,” Sentinel teacher Dave Severson said. “Many of my colleagues are nervous.”

Last October, Mark Zuber, the father of a Big Sky senior, complained to the school about two videos. One, a PBS production, was shown in a government class; the other was “The Story of Stuff,” a pointed critique of consumer culture shown in Kennedy’s class.

Zuber said teachers failed to provide balance to those videos, which he viewed as partisan and liberal. Zuber’s complaint reached the board on Jan. 29. The board, by a 4-3 vote, backed the use of the PBS video.

But by another 4-3 vote, the board said the use of “The Story of Stuff” was a violation of district policy regarding academic freedom. The majority said Kennedy offered nothing to balance the view put forth in the “Stuff” video, even though the district policy doesn’t mention balance.

That decision was assailed Tuesday night, and the fiercest critics were students themselves. They appeared in number, with carefully written statements and strong presentations.

“If my generation is the ‘future,’ censorship is only setting us up to fail,” said Ana Beard, a senior at Hellgate.

Big Sky students Katie Michels and Rose Dickson told the board that their teachers are simply doing their jobs – making students think.

“They are trying to start a new conversation, not to brainwash us,” said Michels.

In a letter to the board, Michels and Dickson wrote: “Discussion and debate provide one the most effective ways to discover and articulate our own beliefs, and we hope that school will continue to provide occasions for us to do so.”

Students and teachers strongly defended Kennedy and her teaching, but they also stepped into the debate about the film itself.

While the film is certainly opinionated, the students said it was used primarily to start a discussion. Besides, they said, who’s going to argue that consumer culture hasn’t had an effect on the environment?

Hellgate biology teacher Rob Jensen said board members who claimed the video had no application to a biology class – that was part of Zuber’s argument, as well – were off base.

“Everything in that piece – well, almost everything – had to do with wildlife biology,” Jensen said.

Brandon Honzel, another Big Sky biology teacher, said the board’s decision was “discouraging.”

The video, he said, was about sustainability.

“Our curriculum tells us to teach that,” said Honzel, who noted that it’s his job to make students think.

Jensen and Honzel, like almost every other speaker, asked the board to reconsider its decision.

“I believe there was a pretty serious error made in the last vote,” said Deborah Oberbillig, parent of a student and wife of a Hellgate science teacher.

“We strongly encourage that the board takes the time to reverse such a decision for the sake of academic freedom,” Hellgate students Chase Maxwell and Marlena Serviss said in a letter delivered to the board after they spoke.

Only one person voiced support for the board’s decision. Mike Ramsey, parent of a Big Sky student, said the board was right to scrutinize the use of the video.

“This should be about more than just teachers,” Ramsey said.

Ramsey was swimming upstream on Tuesday, though, as speaker after speaker challenged the board’s decision and called for its reversal.

Although board Chairwoman Toni Rehbein wants the board to revisit the topic, it won’t be easy, in part because a motion to reconsider the vote must be made by a trustee who voted with the majority. Because of that, the voices of three board members who were absent for the Jan. 29 vote may never be heard.

For now, the vote stands, much to the chagrin of students, teachers and parents who spoke Tuesday night.

Reporter Michael Moore can be reached at 523-5252 or at mmoore@missoulian.com.
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Josh wrote on Feb 11, 2009 6:14 AM:

” There is plenty to debate about in the video, but the idea that students aren’t getting a balanced view of this issue is laughable.
Americans see thousands of advertisements every day. Students don’t even have to leave school to be bombarded with advertising. If “balance” here means presenting students with the notion that we can consume all we want, I would think the 3,000 ads they see each day would suffice. ”

Jeff Most wrote on Feb 11, 2009 7:32 AM:

” This is why bullies win out…Zuber is a bully and the Board gave him their lunch money. Good for Kennedy, her colleagues and the students who stood up the censorship!

JM ”

Karen Potter wrote on Feb 11, 2009 7:49 AM:

” I am all for teaching our kids about every aspect of life and it seems the
teachers at school are the only ones
willing and equipped to do so. Yes, they should present BOTH sides of the
subject at hand, but that is difficult
to do in the limited time of a class.
I support BOTH teachers in the case under discussion. The Story of Stuff is
particularly important right now. The constant bombardment of stuff you just
gotta have to be considered “in” or even acceptable in this society is what
has put us in the economic crisis we have at present. ”

marie wrote on Feb 11, 2009 7:51 AM:

” How nice to see conservative bias pushed by one parent’s narrowmindedness win out over common sense parents, students and teachers. “Just teachers”? Your schools are nothing without teachers. Our society will fail without teachers. “Just teachers” is what I would expect to hear from this conservative bias. One may as well say “just clean air. Just clean water. Just a bald eagle, just a moose. Just a tree, just a mountain.” What do you expect from a Wal-mart culture of “throw it out and buy a new one”? ”

Alex Laughnan wrote on Feb 11, 2009 8:00 AM:

” In our modern society is has become acceptable to criticize others due to the most obscure reasons. I find that this story has been completely blown of proportion. As a current senior at Sentinel High School, I believe that these videos are here to make people think about what are current global situation is. Our school requires that we memorize, study, and then regurgitate information for tests and quizzes while lacking any type of real life scenarios. It has become acceptable to not need to “think” in school – just passing along by one’s ability to memorize the provided information. However, when the select few teachers try and get their students to think, the result is apparently the teachers ”failure to provide balance” to these videos. As Mr. Ramsey stated, “this should be about more than just teachers,” and this is completely correct. Trying to push the students out of the accepted norms of high school is becoming more and more difficult, especially with the opposition received from parents. Censorship will be the failure of our new generation and the oppression from others that deny us (as students) the rights to watch and give our unbiased opinions. ”

Robert wrote on Feb 11, 2009 10:02 AM:

” Zuber is a paranoid right wing fanatic that has been watching too much Fox News. The board needs to rescind the vote. People please stand up for the teachers and voice your disgust. ”

disgusted wrote on Feb 11, 2009 10:53 AM:

” I am absolutely disgusted by the Board’s decision, and horrifed that such a thing could happen in Missoula. If Mr. Zuber is so afraid of allowing his daughter to be exposed to ideas other than his own, perhaps he should consider having her locked up in a tower for the rest of her life. He certainly has a very distorted view of what education is. But it’s no surprise that there are crackpot parents out there… always have been, always will be. The shock is that the Board wouldn’t take a stand for freedom of thought. They ought to be deeply ashamed of themselves for their cowardice. ”

Dave Bell wrote on Feb 11, 2009 12:06 PM:

” Thank you teachers! The Story of Stuff is a brilliant educational piece. ”

Educator wrote on Feb 11, 2009 12:43 PM:

” First, many in Missoula are extremely naive if they believe all the classes taught at the high school level are apolitical. Most of the material that teachers choose to present in class reflect their view of broadarea subjects. Think that if your sons or daughters teacher went through the University of Montana, consider what political or point of view on their subject might be. Teaching subjects like Biology, English or my subject are af Social Studies, is extremely difficult to provide balanced and objective views (our own educations tell us what is important and not). Teachers should not be the distrubtors or implementors of political thought, but facilitators to provide students with view points that may provide them with answers to essential questions. Based on what I know, both teachers at Big Sky were doing what teachers should be doing, molding young thinkers who are able to critically assess important issues of our times. Yet in that, the stakeholders need to understand that points of view of others do not reflect a liberal or conservative bias but a lense through how they see the world. We should at least respect that. ”

Nathan wrote on Feb 11, 2009 2:53 PM:

” Then the public schools cannot be trusted with the future education of my children. I will not have them subjected to Nazi like school boards that dictate what my children can and cannot view. This isn’t your job! It is the parents job to choose. If the parents don’t want their students to see the film than by all means let’s have them remove those children into an alternative activity while the other students are watching the presentation. This has been done for people of faith and parents who object to their children learning about sex-ed for years.

It seems to me that their is a better solution than becoming fascists dictators. Certainly it’s possible for teachers to send an itinerary of what is being presented in class a head of time to the parents. The teachers after all “prepare” for these classes a head of time.

Today I’m embarrassed that I went to District 1 schools for 13 years and this kind of baloney is happening. Certainly the students whom graduate from these schools are smart enough to form their own opinions and views of the world. I certainly am! ”

Kurt wrote on Feb 11, 2009 4:04 PM:

” Ms Kennedy couldn’t wrap her head around why my 4.0 daughter, a senior at Big Sky, would choose to debate for John McCain in a mock election held at BSHS gov’t class nov. 4th (an election won by McCain by the way). Ms. Kennedy is a proud Liberal. Does the fact that she is a Liberal effect how and what she teaches? I am sure it does. In this case did she not follow district policy? Apparently she did not and Mr. Zuber brought it to the boards attention. Good for him. ”

Chuck wrote on Feb 11, 2009 5:12 PM:

” I hope Zuber and the board gets sued and the local right wing radio station as well for promoting this nut case. ”

James Kendall wrote on Feb 11, 2009 6:14 PM:

” This is the scopes trial all over again! It is outrageous and nothing but disheartening that steps are still being taken to make education and thought march backward rather than forward. It is the very foundation of reason that our ability to think balances a topic to have the potential for open discussion, not whether the content of a video does it for us. The board abased both the intellects of the teachers and the students for discrediting the notion that they themselves possessed the proper faculties to judge both sides of the videos content. We do not need to feed our students in the manner we do babies. We must simply put what we have on their plate and let them decide whether to eat it or not. ”

UMstudent wrote on Feb 11, 2009 8:14 PM:

” What is significantly lacking in both the reporting of this story and the comments below are what types of discussions took place after each of these videos were shown? Were kids free to have an open discussion about them? If not I don’t see how these teachers can be defended. I’ve seen both videos and I believe they both gave good, but very one sided arguments. However, there are strong counter arguments to each of them as well. I don’t care what political view our educators have, but they best be teaching our kids to have informed decisions, not just indoctrinating them with theirs. I highly doubt that so many of you would be singing their praises if the videos had conservative messages. ”

LS wrote on Feb 11, 2009 8:41 PM:

” Kudos to the school board and Mr. Zuber for insisting that his daughter’s HS wildlife biology class stick to teaching wildlife biology.

“The story of stuff” may be a fine video, but it would have been more appropriate to show the video as part of a political science or economics class. Yes, in some ways this video probably does relate to wildlife biology. I’m sure the price of tea in China also in some ways relates to wildlife biology. I think Mr. Zuber has every right to question why his daughter has to watch this video as part of a wildlife biology class. What’s so wrong about him being concerned about the quality of his daughters’ education, and believing that HS science classes should be teaching science?

Do you ever wonder why more and more scientists, doctors, computer programmers, and engineers currently working in the US are from China, India and other countries? Maybe it’s because in those countries students are taught science in their science classes. ”

Lockte wrote on Feb 11, 2009 8:49 PM:

” I am a Conservative, however I do not believe in Censoring what a teacher shows. Kids in High School are old enough to have made their own opinions on things, so if they disagree with the video they would have stood for their beliefs. ”

a future teacher wrote on Feb 11, 2009 11:02 PM:

” Balance is irrelevant. I hate to argue against the majority, but the school board’s desicion should stand. If you spend 20 minutes to watch the video, you will see that it is not classroom material. The video uses cartoons and generalizations when it should be using concrete images and facts. There are many better ways to encourage discussions. ”

Susan Butler wrote on Feb 12, 2009 1:10 PM:

” As a retired English teacher, I am horrified by this vote of the Board. The vote should be reconsidered, if only for the sake of academic freedom. Whatever happened to old adage, “We don’t teach a child what to think, but how to think.” Censorship is the greatest enemy of teaching children how to think. ”

Michelle wrote on Feb 12, 2009 1:48 PM:

” As a former Montana resident and mother of a high school age daughter, I am disappointed to hear about the controversy and vote regarding The Story of Stuff. Our schools are a place for learning, to inspire our children and to ask them to think for themselves. I believe fear is what motivated this vote. Here’s an idea, why don’t we actually LISTEN to the students? They will, after all, inherit the mess we are so determined to leave them. It is my hope that the School Board will not allow narrow minded thinkers to get away with dictating what our children and teachers have access to. ”

Ariane Conrad wrote on Feb 12, 2009 1:49 PM:

” What an embarrassment for this aptly-named Hellgate school board. The “Story of Stuff” video presents science-based facts (and if descriptions of natural habitats like forests and rivers don’t qualify as biology, I’m not sure what does!) alongside plain old common sense and reverence for all Creation. Only an idiot would want to keep these kinds of messages from minds of any age. ”

RGH wrote on Feb 12, 2009 2:22 PM:

” LM: “Do you ever wonder why more and more scientists, doctors, computer programmers, and engineers currently working in the US are from China, India and other countries? Maybe it’s because in those countries students are taught science in their science classes. ”

Really???!!! They come here because they don’t have the freedom to live and worship as they choose, they don’t have academic freedom. Censoring our teachers is a violation of that freedom. ”

Branden wrote on Feb 12, 2009 2:46 PM:

” Amazing that there are people who still believe that we can continue to live as we have and still expect to survive. Global Warming, toxic waste, declining biodiversity, oceanic “dead zones”, and the incredible Texas-sized Pacific Garbage Patch all correlate to the negative effects humanity is having on our environment. The Story of Stuff is a great discussion starter, just as was Dr. Seuss’ “The Lorax”, meant to cause people to think about the consequences of our habituated consumption and its effect on the natural systems that sustain us and every other living thing. On the one hand, the school board’s decision is encouraging. We can now see that we have a problem in this school district and that we have administrators who prefer to stick with the status quo and aggressively ram their heads into the sand, while demanding that everyone else does so. Having identified this problem, there is controversy and people are concerned that their school board isn’t serving their children in helping to create thoughtful people who care about the environment. I predict this will change now that we’ve identified this problem. It’s discouraging because it seems that our national solution to everything, “Go shopping”, is still entrenched in our institutions. Again, we’ve identified a problem that must change. We are the ones who can change it.

As the Lorax’s nemesis, the short-sighted, profit-driven Onceler said, “Unless. Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better, it’s not.” ”

Nick Newlin wrote on Feb 12, 2009 2:53 PM:

” That is ridiculous. “The Story of Stuff” shouldn’t be controversial at all. It is a very well told account of how consumerism has gotten out of hand, and we should consider what happens to the stuff we consume. It’s that simple. The Missoula County Public Schools board is confused, and should listen to the teachers and students. “The Story of Stuff” should be viewed by more people, not fewer. ”

David wrote on Feb 12, 2009 2:56 PM:

” As an educator who has used the Story of Stuff in my college classes, I can tell you this film is an amazing resource for getting students to think about the world and our roles as consumers on this planet. It is a wonderful resource for kick starting lively and passionate discussions in classes and it motivates students to think critically about things that many of us rarely give much thought to at all.
And it goes without saying that censorship is certainly not a viable solution to the ecological crisis. ”

Neil wrote on Feb 12, 2009 3:50 PM:

” Why in the world are people so afraid of the Story of Stuff? Does it threaten their God-given right to trash the planet? And why would a school board feel justified in using censorship to placate a single parent? Good for the students and teachers to stand up for the right to think and debate. A pity that the school board seems less evolved. ”

Annie Leonard wrote on Feb 12, 2009 4:14 PM:

” For those of you who would like to watch The Story of Stuff, it can be viewed at http://www.storyofstuff.com. It is a fast-paced fact-filled 20 minute look at the hidden environmental and social impacts of how we make, use and throw away all the stuff in our lives. It covers exactly the kind of issues that students – indeed, everyone – need to be critically examining in this era of growing ecological and economic crisis. The website also contains a fully referenced script, background information and house party screening kits with invitations and sample group disucssion questions in case you would like to have your own viewing – perhaps you should invite a local school board member! ”

Scott Roper wrote on Feb 12, 2009 4:24 PM:

” It’s amazing how you liberals think that your views are the only ones that matter, and the only ones that should be taught. I watched this video. It is political indoctrination pure and simple. Do you notice how it only blames America and “evil corparations” and the millitary? You know, the same millitary that gives you freedom of speech. Why does it never mention the more obvious fact that every person born on this planet means more pollution and fewer resources? Because that would be too simple. Democrats need ignorant people to keep spitting out new people who will be dependent on the socialist state (sometimes eight in one litter). I don’t want my kid politically indoctinated in school (you will call it facts not indoctination, I’m sure), the same way you wouldn’t want me teaching my religion to your kids in school. How hard is it to just teach biology? ”

Dave wrote on Feb 12, 2009 5:51 PM:

” Have we gone back to the middle ages. Or are these folks just scared of information that may threaten a belief system based on illusion that they have grown used to. You can’t destroy the truth…you can only hide for a while. Thanks to story of stuff for exposing the truth about our consumer societies and the effect on the planet. ”

Deborah Moore wrote on Feb 12, 2009 5:54 PM:

” I work with a variety of K-12 schools and train teachers on hands-on service learning, environmental education, and sustainability curricula with the Green Schools Initiative. I have used the “Story of Stuff” in my workshops and teachers have appreciated using this video as a tool across a variety of disciplines, including science. Since the consumption of natural resources has enormous consequences for the ecological and social well-being of the whole planet the issue does seem pertinent and relevant to biology as well as other fields, regardless of your political viewpoint. Censorship will not make the issues of global warming, water pollution or disease go away. Solutions will come from an informed and engaged citizenry, such as students of teachers like Kennedy and those that have attended my workshops who are willing to spark students’ curiosity, independence, and innovative thinking. ”

Nity from India wrote on Feb 12, 2009 7:05 PM:

” It is time to send the County Board members who voted to ban “The Story of Stuff” to school again. The story of stuff reveals that our technological gains notwithstanding, we as a society are yet to be potty-trained. we can send spaceships to mars, but we have no clue what to do with our used diapers. Thank god for the Hellgate students. It is amazing that they still have some common sense left after all the mind-numbing bombardment to go out and shop. Three cheers to the students and teachers of Hellgate. Three cheers to the school board for helping raise the profile and deepening the debate around sustainability with their childish notion that their ban will stop children from viewing the video. ”

Ted Smith wrote on Feb 12, 2009 10:41 PM:

” “The story of stuff” is one of the best educational videos I’ve ever seen. Teachers should be encouraged to show it to their students and commended for supporting independent thinking, especially when so much of our culture is being dumbed down. The school board should be ashamed of itself for supressing freedom of speech and intimidating teachers. ”

Madhumita Dutta wrote on Feb 12, 2009 11:01 PM:

” I do not know whether to express surprise, anger or scoff at the school board’s decision of banning “The Story of Stuff”. And I am perplexed at the parent’s complaint which triggered this response. I wonder what motivated the parent to make such a complaint. I live in India, “a country on the move”, where we see the whole cycle of consumption and destruction of natural resources. We are repeating the mistakes of the West. Its a reality we need to face and challenge. And not shy away. We need to ask questions, find lasting and sustainable answers to them, however difficult and uncomfortable they are. “The Story of Stuff” does just that. It tells us what the problem is, it makes us think and ask questions. In India, we have shown this film in many schools, communities. People have been able to relate to it, have questioned themselves, have been horrified at what might happen if we do not stop this wasteful existence. But never once did anyone say “we need to ban” the movie. No teacher, no kid, no school board and NO PARENT. This shows the maturity of a society. Censoring the film betrays immaturity. Please let the children decide. Adults have already done much harm to this planet, lets not push it further. ”

Andy Lin wrote on Feb 13, 2009 10:56 AM:

” One of the inherent messages in The Story of Stuff is that everything is connected. The coffee cup from which I’m sipping right now was shipped across the world and was made in a factory somewhere from trees cut down, possibly displacing indigenous inhabitants in a community somewhere, definitely creating waves in the ecological environment. Yes, this movie should be played in economics classes. Yes, this movie should be played in classes on politics. And yes, this movie should be played in biology classes. We as a culture lack the very holistic view of the world that The Story of Stuff represents, and we can do better. One place we can start is our schools, doing the exact thing Kathleen Kennedy did, to help catalyze in our children the notion that the things we consume can help, or hurt, our global environment. ”

Disappointed in Hellgate wrote on Feb 13, 2009 11:46 AM:

” Story of Stuff is a wonderful piece that is widely accessible and uses simple imagery and storytelling to express a viewpoint drawing from pieces of factual information. It challenges pre-concieved notions and brings to light issues that greatly affect our daily lives. It is a video made about a subject in a creative way meant to stimulate reflection and discussion. Students’ fried brain cells from a school day full of ingesting info fated to be regurgitated in standardized tests benefit from a stimulating form of media.

Also, top US universities stress an interdisciplinary education- an education that ties themes and issues together across subject areas. Story of Stuff is a piece about biology, economics, politics, sociology… And guess what? Innovations in sustainable technology are deveoped by biologists and engineers… not economists and politicians. They’re on the policy end.

A note on bias: every piece of media that is created by a single person or group of people is biased. Every film I watched, every book I read, every article I read in class was biased – and in my adult life, these media are still biased- and will always be. A good teacher teaches students to dig deeper and always ask questions. Considering how much media our society- and especially our children- are exposed to every day, it is ludicrous to suggest Story of Stuff is going to somehow brainwash and distort a high school student’s brain. God forbid we let students think! ”

Ele wrote on Feb 14, 2009 4:56 PM:

” Public school teachers are doing the job that they were hired to do: to dumb down future generations to believe that the collective, the collective mind and rights are more important than the individual and his rights. People have been modified to believe they can’t think for themselves. They are taught to think as a collective for the collective. The individual and his rights have no place in todays society. It’s the team, the group, the community, the greater good that matters and that takes priority over the individual. “

I am currently teaching English to children in South Korea. We are going to have a book/clothing/toy swap for the first time. So I really want to show this video to the students, but I think the speaking is too fast and difficult for their level of comprehension. Is this video available with Korean subtitles?

??… ??? ??-?????????? ?????? ??????????? ????! ???? ??????? ???-??

If you had any of your facts straight the rest of the liberal’s watching your video wouldn’t be as interested. When you say that we only have 4% of our “original forests” you don’t mention that we have more trees in this country now than 200 years ago. Also the money spent on defense is really 30% not the 50% that you claim.

Great Propaganda and I will make sure that this gets no play in my child’s school.

thanks !!

Ive been teaching for 5 years now. I live teaching but I hate my job. Im an art teacher, and for the last 5 years I have had to figure out how to run my class on .42 cents per student for supplies FOR THE YEAR. My roof leaks in 8 places, water runs down the walls. There is no heat and no air conditioning. There are no windows in the concrete construction of the room I teach in. I am under flor lighting all day, when the rain water does not fill up the light covers and turn the light yellow. I get pneumonia 3 or 4 times every winter. I teach 8 classes in 6 periods, with as many as 4 different classes in the same room at the same time, with ages and grade levels mixed as well. The admin wonder why I am not more effective. I hate ever day, but I still love the kids. I feel sorry for them, they are stuck here too and expected to be creative in this hell hole. I teach in Southern CALIFORNIA, not in south Africa like you might think. I can never quit my job, I am too deep in debt, it cost me $77,000 to be here!