'Race to Nowhere': A Discussion of Stress in School

There is a narrow space of time these days, if any, for kids to be kids.

From long school days to soccer practice to piano lessons to test preparation and hours of homework from multiple AP classes, the developing mind has no time to grow creatively.

This is the perspective of “Race To Nowhere,” a documentary by Vicki Abeles screened Wednesday night by both the Ridgefield school district and the library to continue a discussion regarding stress at all levels of school-age children.

The film focuses on the “little professional’s” need to perform – whether on tests, on college applications or even in the arts – rather than develop in the school systems.

The Board of Education co-sponsored the film screening with the library not to endorse the film’s point of view, Superintendent Deborah Low said, but to continue a conversation that had started early in the school year.

“The board was discussing student stress, and it started gaining traction in the fall,” Low said, who hadn’t seen the film beforehand like most of the board. “What we want to do is get a conversation started.”

“This is a great thing to do for the kids,” board member John Palermo said before the screening. “It’s good to put these things in perspective.”

He noted how the 650-capacity auditorium had sold out of tickets a week before the event – because of this, the PTA is organizing a few more showings in coming weeks, with dates to be announced.

Joan McNeese, a Ridgefielder and a teacher in New York, mentioned that the film has been shown increasingly by many PTA’s and teacher organizations.

“As a parent and a teacher, I’m looking at this from both sides,” McNeese said.

Most importantly, a diverse panel of students, parents, board members and counselors discussed the film after the credits.

Kim Cohen, a senior high school representative, agreed that there are “times of intense stress,” but also that “things aren’t as bad as it may seem.” The film showed some extreme cases of resignation, health risks and teen suicide.

“The movie showed extracurriculars as time-fillers,” Cohen said. “For me, that is my time to do something I like to reduce stress.”

Cohen’s junior classmate Karryn Christiansen agreed and mentioned that some of the film’s drastic recommendations, such as cutting AP classes altogether, might take away the school’s competitive edge.

“A lot of it is pressure you put on yourself,” Christiansen said. “I think we should be encouraging students to do what they like rather than building a resource to get into a good school.”

“But eliminating AP classes would take away that opportunity for those who want to take them,” Christiansen continued. “The school’s objective should be to help the students.”

Emily Kilbourn, the school’s student life coordinator, felt the film focused on the problems more than the solutions.

She recommended relieving pressure mostly through open lines of communication.

“I see what’s happening in the schools,” Kilbourn said. “And if we don’t see it there’s no way we can solve the problem.”

The school will be implementing an advisory program for next year, Kilbourn said, to embrace the notion of “whole kids,” that is, to incorporate more than just academic development in the schools.

Liz Jorgensen, a counselor at the high school, said the bottom line is materialism.

“Somehow it’s all about how much money you have when you die,” Jorgensen said, echoing a sentiment in the film that students try to match their parents’ success. “But money doesn’t afford happiness beyond the basic needs.”

She said that when her son was in high school and said he wanted to be a teacher, he had friends whose parents told their children they would not help pay for college if the student were to be “just” a teacher.

“My personal feeling is we’d rather raise honest, healthy children,” Jorgensen said, noting that substance abuse can be a part of this stress.

Board of Education member Richard Steinhart raised a point about critical thinking and problem solving in the education system.

“Are we teaching these kids to critically think?” Steinhart asked. “Or are we teaching them to parrot back information for a test?”

“High school should be a high school experience, and college should be a college experience,” he said of students who are encouraged to take too many AP classes.

“Stress is real for students,” Low said after the film. “We don’t want to topple the whole system, but we want to make small changes to create balance in students’ lives."