<p>I finally saw Race to Nowhere. Had to leave before the group discussion, in order to get the little ones to bed. I am wondering if others have seen it and if they feel it is possible for a prep school kid to NOT be overscheduled and subjected to constant stress. </p>
<p>Race</a> to Nowhere | Changing Lives One Film at a Time</p>
<p>IMO, it is unimpossible to avoid feeling stressed, overworked and with too little sleep at BS. The level of overachieving is high and omnipresent. You have to know your kid and be honest about whether they thrive, hide or nose-dive in such environment and then decide on BS accordingly. It has to be something that your teen is ready to handle at a tender age. No adult support, safety nets, coaching or otherwise can make it easier on a kid not ready to handle it well.</p>
<p>I think it is possible, but you have to choose your schedule wisely. One reason a student chooses BS is for academic rigor, so realistically, you’re choosing to stretch yourself, right?
However, from talking to my son, you need to be smart about it. If you want to avoid driving yourself to exhaustion, plan to give up some things. He only picked two sports to excel in instead of a sport every trimester. Decide whether you will give up theater or sports. Decide which EC to pursue vs. orchestra. There are only so many hours in a day, so something has to give. Make wise choices and follow your passions. Easier said than done, but in the end I think you’ll still be impressive to colleges AND preserve your sanity.</p>
<p>The movie emphasized the impact of high amounts of homework in particular and how it is associated with student stress and anxiety. A study was quoted that found elementary school kids derived no benefit from doing homework. Middle school kids benefited if the homework was an hour or less but had no additional boost with additional hours of homework. High school kids benefited (this is all measured in test scores) with up to two hours of homework, but similar to the middle school kids, without any added boost for more time. Interestingly, an AP teacher mentioned that he cut the homework load in HALF and test scores actually went up in response. </p>
<p>I think it is possible to learn at an advanced level with minimal homework- I have seen it firsthand with my own kids doing early college courses that required far less homework than most prep schools. As my son gets ready to begin prep school in September, I worry about his potential homework load and how it will balance out with mandatory sports and the ECs I know he will want to do.</p>
<p>The homework load is heavy (and probably more than 2 hours most nights), but my kid has never complained that his time is wasted by his teachers. There’s no busy work, just lots of reading and writing, a handful of complex word problems to solve, etc. The emphasis is on quality, rather than quantity. </p>
<p>I think that the problem with the heavy homework load at ps is that it’s often repetitious, with more of an emphasis on rote memorization than the kind of learning that comes from reading, writing, and complex problem solving. Both take up lots of time, but the latter seems more worthwhile to me.</p>
<p>I think RBGG is spot on about the importance of scaling back the activities. BS life is (I think)purposefully very scheduled, but not overscheduled–everything has a time and place, and the kids who do best are the kids who more or less follow the plan–they study and practice and socialize within the times allotted for each. Letting one activity spill over too much into the others is, I think, what causes stress.</p>
<p>Race to Nowhere is reportedly a rebuttal to the film Waiting for Superman. I have only seen the trailers, but am unimpressed by what I see so far as whining about the CAHSEE (California HS exit exam). </p>
<p>Some of the students’ and teachers’ comments I heard in the trailers:
<p>If teachers feel they need to teach material twice, then one has to wonder about what is inherently lacking in the CA school curriculum that the kids dont get the proper learning the first time around.</p>
<p>GMT, The film is 1.5 hours long, and there are bits and bytes from teachers, admins, parents, and kids themselves. There’s a lot more to it than those you mention here. I am glad to have seen it, and what I took away is that people are so busy focusing on getting to the next step that they forget that the journey itself should be pleasurable. If a third grader is having so much homework that he doesn’t have time to go out and play- that’s a real problem. If an 8th grader kills herself because she is failing algebra- that’s a problem. </p>
<p>I am not suggesting that we all pull our kids out of school, hold hands and sing kumbaya, but I do think our kids might benefit from thinking about quality vs. quantity and trying to schedule regular down time.</p>
<p>The 8th grader received her first B ever, if I recall the film correctly. That’s not a basis upon which to craft policy. The anorectic was also not an example of “a typical teenager driven to despair by stress.” For both girls, there were other issues. </p>
<p>The film is well marketed, but I disagree with its anti-homework screed, at least for middle and high schoolers. If a teen is balancing a job, athletic commitments, community service, religious commitments, and homework, why is homework the villain in causing stress? Why did the film blame academic requirements, rather than the Travel Sports Empire?</p>
<p>For what it’s worth, my eldest child has found boarding school less stressful than her local school. She likes being busy, and has found that she does better with a busier schedule. However, there are no commute times to and from commitments, except for games, and the strict schedule, with official lights out times keeps her organized. </p>
<p>Lots of kids are overscheduled these days, but that stress originates from the parents, and our fear of the college admissions race, in my opinion. Any kid should be allowed to drop an extracurricular activity he doesn’t like, even if that’s his “ticket to college.” I’m excepting things such as The Family Visit to Aunt Edna, and church attendance, etc. Even if he was a wonderful oboe player in 5th grade, he should be allowed to drop it if he doesn’t enjoy it. Everyone should get enough sleep.</p>
<p>Sorry to be a Tiger-Parent ■■■■■ about the subject of homework and stress, but the World is Flat now. When our kids apply to BS, college, or employer, they are competing with kids who are studying their butts off in Singapore. That’s life now, and things are not going to go back to the days when we Americans were in our ring-fenced domestic bubble. </p>
<p>Look at the stats of the BSs mentioned on this board and see what percentage of the student bodies are int’l. I’m curious to know what the int’l student percentage was when “W” attended Andover.</p>
<p>My child is in a lower key boarding school and gets around 8 to 8.5 hours of sleep–not quite enough, but more than most of her friends in day schools with commutes. I’m told Deerfield talks about the importance of kids getting enough sleep, but I don’t know the reality there.</p>
<p>I thought the movie was silly and didn’t quote any real research. Some of the families seemed most stressed over Travel Soccer or other sports. What was that poor child doing in Algebra if she was so sensitive she killed herself over doing poorly on a test? Who are these people? I have to agree with GMTplus7- they don’t seem well prepared for the real world.</p>
<p>At least the kids in BS do not have to deal with long commutes to get to everywhere, and their parents don’t have to scream about how late they are while getting into the car. Talk about a drag and a good mood wrecker. I think the problem with the movie is the fact that yes, kids do have too many ec’s for resume booster, and not enough time spent on their true interests. Just like the “chance me threads.” After awhile don’t they all just simply bore you?</p>
<p>I have not seen the movie but it is a hot topic in th PS in my town. The super is talking about a school-wide homework policy so the kiddies do not get too stressed, and this from a district where there is no curriculum aligment, declining test scores and a widening achievement gap. But what the heck, let’s go after the problem that is easy to solve, rather than one of the ones that is critical to solve!</p>
<p>I think ECs that stress kids out and are just there for the resume are dumb, and parents should cut them out. However, I think a lot of down time for teenagers is dangerous and unecessary. I would much rather have a busy kid than one hanging out at the mall. </p>
<p>I also think too much homework every once in awhile is a good thing. They learn how to deal with taking a test, or handling in a project, when they have done the best they could under the circumstances rather than their absolute best work. Having too much to do sometimes is how they learn to prioritize, manage their time, and persevere through the rough patches. Those are all critical skills and experiences for success in college, and in life.</p>
<p>Can’t help butting in 1012…“a lot of down time for teenagers is dangerous and unnecessary?” Where are you coming from? I feel real pity for any kid who hasn’t learned to experience, appreciate and learn to handle down time in their lives. It’s a time to learn silence, decompress and think. It doesn’t need to be productive in the eyes of others.</p>
<p>I haven’t seen the movie. Not even curious. (And I am super-curious about most anything!!)
I know the person who made the film. My child and her child were classmates from about grade 3 thru grade 8, when their school ended after a very stressful final 2 years landing them in the top local private HS (and some BS, and a some competitive admission Publics).
This very woman commuted her 2 daughters ALMOST 2 (yes-2, with LOTS of traffic jams) HRS EACH WAY to get her daughters to school for about 5 years!!! How incredible is that? She commuted them for 4 plus hours every day from an affluent area with plenty of excellent, sought-after Publics and excellent Privates… WHY?
I think it was for the social prestige. And possibly for bragging rights. And because she (over) estimated her kid’s academic potential.
So she was probably ticked off that her kiddo was not a super-star at this prestigious private school. Heck - 3-4 hours of (UNNECESSARY) commuting each day would stress ANYONE out and make getting HW done miserable.
She has zilch credibility IMO. The movie appears to have been a self-financed ego-trip for her, and an attempt to rationalize her D’s experience.
I have very little respect for her opinions.
Sorry for the rant.
Just providing some background…</p>
<p>As to the message from the movie, that is a whole other post.</p>
<p>I think balance is the issue - and not creating paths for children based on today’s soundbite. These movies are all starting to turn my stomach and I really which some objective person would just distill the information without trying to create the “narrative” for us.</p>
<p>PerformersMom- Four hours commuting each day, to get to a “better” school? That seems quite extreme. My family has been stressed this year with driving ds 35 minutes each way to get back and forth to his school, a commute which (huzzah!) will be gone in a very short while. </p>
<p>The funniest part of the whole film (the audience laughed out loud) was a very large high school kid complaining that he was so busy he didn’t have time to do as much eating as he wished.</p>
<p>Performersmom–maybe you should see the movie first before delivering reviews on it.</p>
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<p>I see where 1012 is coming from. Downtime IS essential for kids, especially when they’re little. But most teenagers that I know who aren’t busy–and some who are–don’t spend their free time decompressing in silence–they spend it hanging out with other teens, which way too often for my comfort ends up in drinking, smoking dope, or endless video gaming. Given the options, I’m a fan of busy. In fact, I’d argue that a kid who plays year-round sports and does one or two other EC’s will be more physically tired during down time, making quietly decompressing on the couch at home look pretty good on a Sunday afternoon, as opposed to wandering around the mall.</p>
<p>Performersmom was not reviewing the movie, she was sharing the back story, which I found fascinating. I knew that there had to be something like that behind the making of the movie. Four hours in the car every day? Like, from one part of California to another? No wonder her children felt like they were in a race to nowhere! The group that I watched the movie with also laughed when the very large teen complained that he didn’t have enough time to eat.</p>