But who is? In an effort to spark some thought on what they view as the typical person in the world, today my 8th grade students reflected on that question before I showed them the recently released video clip from the National Geographic Series on Global Population. I’ve found the clips produced with this series to be entertaining, concise and highly informative.
Students had a few minutes to get their heads around the question — I posed it from the point of view of if a completely alien craft was to appear in orbit right now, who would they pick from the global population that was the most average representative. The responses are great. Some clearly understand the world perspective and others are still working to expand their view, the vital point is that they are thinking about these issues.
Some examples:
The typical human has a job that brings income into their family’s. The person is involved in their government to describe what they want in their government. The person is probably with the race of Chinese because that is the most populated country in the world. The person may be educated but did not go to college to receive the rest of his education. The person had a family so works long hours to bring in income. The person stays in touch with his friends using social networks or a cell phone. That is what i think the the typical person is.
I think that Americans can’t be considered a typical person on Earth. In America we all eat so much to the point that we weigh like over 9,000 pounds. When I look at other countries I see most people acting in different ways. I think that Americans just take what they have as if they deserve it. In other countries, like South Africa, I see that a lot of people can’t even afford to buy shoes. This shows how much of a difference there is between where you live.
The average person in the world does not have the life of an average American. America is a very stable country, unlike other countries. People in unstable countries have to worry about major rebellions and anti-capitalist takeovers. When anti-capitalists take over the, country never grows or succeeds. If rebellions occurs that means a lot of violence and protesting and that is not fun. I’m glad I have the luxury of living in America.
