'Race to Nowhere' Film Invokes Thought and Criticism

“And?”

According to one student featured in the film “Race to Nowhere,” which had a showing at Robinson Secondary School June 6 at 7 p.m., that one word question has come to define teenage life.

Students are expected to get straight As.

And?

Be on Varsity sports.

And?

Be involved in the arts.

And?

The list goes on.  As it grows pressure mounts. With more kids than ever going to college, the pressure is on to be “perfect.”

“I’m afraid that our children are going to sue us for stealing their childhood,” Dr. Wendy Mogel, clinical psychologist, said in the film “Race to Nowhere.”

The film opens with director Vicki Alebes’ own story of her children’s struggles trying to keep their head above the water in school.  When Alebes watched her happy, go lucky teenage daughter turn depressed and sleep deprived, she realized schoolwork was stealing her children’s childhood.

The students in this movie are struggling; many had to check into stress clinics.  One particularly emotional feature was Natalie, who became anorexic because not eating gave her more energy.

While the stories were similar to my own experience in the IB Program (the stress, emotional breakdowns, running on two to four hours of sleep after hours of homework and dance), I cannot say the majority of seniors at my school had that same experience.

“Success isn’t measured by anyone but yourself,” said senior Brian Phillips.  Phillips was a student representative on the panel that answered questions after the showing. 

He dropped some honors classes after middle school, deciding that the workload was not worth it.

This balance Philips sought after seemed to be emphasized by two other Robinson teachers on the panel, Wendy Vu and Kathe Naughton.  Vu is an IB coordinator and IB English II teacher and Naughton is a parent and History and Theory of Knowledge teacher.

“It’s not just about academics.  A life/work balance is important,” said Naughton.

The film cites lack of balance as the reason for America’s lower test scores; America has an education system “a mile wide and an inch deep.” However, it has been my experience that overstressed students are not the cause of lower test scores, but rather unmotivated students.

Parents had the opportunity to ask questions after the film, addressing the panel.

Parents took this as an opportunity to lash out at teachers over what they feel is pointless homework or how they can change no child left behind.

Parents cannot expect teachers to bend over backwards, do the splits and a backhandspring all at once to help their child learn. They also cannot change “No Child Left Behind.”

The film made some good points about how teenage lives have changed and become more stress-ridden, but it did not take into account the laziness pervading many teens today. 

It would have been more interesting to examine the disparity between students doing as little as possible and students doing too much.

And parents need to not take this film as an excuse to why their children are not doing well in school. Not everything is a teacher error. Sometimes school is hard.  Just like life is hard.