by KYW's Dr. Marciene Mattleman

A new documentary, “Two Million Minutes: A Global Examination” conceived and funded by high tech entrepreneur Robert Compton, brings to light differences in time spent on studies between US students and those of China and India.

While the film has not been viewed nationally, it has been shown to presidential candidates before primaries making the case that time spent in high school will seriously affect the economic futures of the youth and of our country as well.

It asserts that US students shirk their studies and devote far less time on them during their high school years, both in and out of school, than do their counterparts across the world.

China’s students spend 583,200 minutes, India’s high schoolers spend 422,400 minutes annually, and in both countries students study weekends, compared with US students who spend only 302,400 minutes on their studies.

Compton was motivated by interviewing computer programmers in India and by reading The World is Flat: A Brief History of the 21st Century by Thomas Friedman about the erosion of America’s economic dominance.